Between Geopolitics and Domestic Contestation: Europeanization in the Western Balkans

Abstract

Looking into Europeanization dynamics on the EU’s periphery, this panel takes domestic public opinion as a key entry point for examining how citizens of EU candidate states interpret, negotiate, and contest the idea of European integration. Rather than treating support for EU integration as a straightforward indicator of Europeanization, it explores the diverse meanings, narratives, and political dynamics through which the EU is understood, accepted, questioned, or resisted across candidate states. Approaching public opinion from multiple perspectives—including geopolitical shifts, domestic political developments, identity-driven sentiments, changing EU approaches, as well as diverse media representations—the panel foregrounds the contested environment in which Europeanization unfolds. The first paper focuses on the EU’s geopolitical approach and Euroscepticism in the Western Balkans. It examines to what extent Euroscepticism in public opinion, shaped by perceptions of the EU’s changing approach under recent geopolitical conditions, has posed a challenge to Europeanisation in the region. The second paper, comparing Ukraine and Serbia, analyses how domestic trust and national/cultural identity sentiments shape their citizens’ attitudes toward European integration. The third paper, comparing two Western Balkan countries, Serbia and Montenegro, examines how domestic media framing and rhetoric shape divergent understandings of European integration and contribute to different trajectories of EU-ization and Europeanization. Finally, situating these discussions within the broader EU enlargement debate contributes to highlighting the key challenges Europeanization faces, stemming not only from the EU’s own agency in shaping the process but, equally importantly, from domestic dynamics and contestations that shape the meaning, direction, and future trajectory of European integration.

Title	Details
Euroscepticism in the Western Balkans as a Risk Factor for EU Enlargement in a New Geopolitical Context	View Paper Details
Security & Defense Integration in EU Non-Member States: Between Crisis and Trust	View Paper Details
A Rhetorical Perspective on Media and Societal Europeanization: Framing of European Integration in Montenegro and Serbia	View Paper Details