Regional Integration in Western Balkans : Legalism versus diplomacy in a spaghetti bowl of initiatives

The Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) signed in 2006 was envisaged as a step towards the accession to the European Union (EU). However, in 2023, more than fifteen years later, signatories to CEFTA have not really moved considerably closer to the EU membership, regardless of how many chapters in the negotiating process they have opened already. A five-year halt on enlargement was announced in 2014 due to the EU’s accession “fatigue” that has been influenced by many factors. The Berlin Process was initiated in 2014 with an idea to maintain the prospect of regional integration for the Western Balkans and to move the cooperation among the countries in the region forward. However, after the French veto against the EU accession of North Macedonia and Albania, in 2019 the leaders of Serbia, Albania, and North Macedonia launched the “mini-Schengen”, later renamed to the Open Balkan initiative. The aim has been to increase cooperation and integration in the region. For the people of the region it is likely to be irrelevant which agreement or initiative promises better life, as long as that actually happens. In this respect, the paper examines various implications of CEFTA agreement vis-à-vis other initiatives in the Western Balkans. The research takes a legalistic versus diplomatic viewpoint in order to examine pros and cons towards achieving more regional cooperation.