by Hatidza Jahic and Miruna Troncota
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It’s been almost 15 years since the 2003 Thessaloniki promise of EU membership for the Western Balkans, and the countries in the region are still in the EU’s ‘waiting room’. The European Commission’s ‘White Paper on the Future of Europe’, published on 1 March 2017 does not mention EU enlargement at all. In the context of the 2017 Western Balkans Summit in Trieste, the first one to be organised after the Brexit vote, Miruna Troncotă (Ro) and Hatidza Jahic (BiH) ask: Are the Balkans forever stuck in the EU's waiting room?
World politics is becoming increasingly tangible to Europeans. Recent events such as the war in Ukraine, deteriorating relations with Russia, as well as the migration wave to Europe bring foreign affairs – and especially conflicts – closer to home. These events not only take place in Europe and its immediate vicinity, but are also increasingly intertwined, succeeding one another at an ever higher pace. Their complexity and the uncertainty brought with it makes foreign affairs more challenging to grasp, but also increases the need for a basic understanding of foreign policy and foreign policymaking.