The European Union (EU) is a unique player in the Western Balkans, where it
has employed a wide array of foreign policy instruments since the 1990s such
as diplomacy, trade, financial assistance, civilian missions, military
missions, and enlargement, which is the EU?s most successful foreign policy
tool. The region is an inspiring case for studying the EU?s transformative
power. The undeniable success of the EU?s Enlargement Policy in influencing
transitions of Central and Eastern Europe countries has inspired research of
the Europeanization, or the EU?s transformative power in relation to
candidate countries, and its impact on their political and economic reforms
during the accession process. Since then, the EU?s global transformative
power has been in crisis. The European Neighbourhood Policy was reviewed in
2015, aiming not any more towards the transformation of neighbouring states,
but rather at fostering their resilience. Similarly, the 2016 Global
Strategy for the European Union?s Foreign and Security Policy set the
principled pragmatism as a guideline. Moreover, the EU?s transformative
power towards member states is questioned after two initiatives to trigger
Article 7 TEU procedures against Poland and Hungary. What about the
Europeanization of the Western Balkans? Despite the fact that the EU has
been the main driver of change, the Europeanization of this post-conflict
region has been slow. According to Freedom House, after substantial progress
from 2004 to 2010, the Western Balkans has declined six years in a row, and
its average Democracy Score in 2016 is the same as it was in 2004. With the
exception of Albania, the scores of all countries are declining, not
improving. The EU?s security-democratisation dilemma strongly affects its
transformative power in the Western Balkans. By prioritising effective
government rather than democratic governance, the EU has helped stabilise
non-democratic and corrupt regimes rather than transforming them,
legitimising Balkan "stabilitocrats".