Evropske študije - družboslovni vidiki

In this article, we argue that while examining the Western Balkans' integration process during the Covid-19 crisis we must take into consideration not only the EU's influence but that of other powerful external actors as well. Based on the external incentives model, Russia, China and Turkey are thus analysed as competing external actors to the EU's enlargement policy in the WB. We establish that during the Covid-19 crisis these actors have been increasingly competing with the EU especially with respect to the determinacy of conditions via state propaganda and by attacking the EU's credibility with disinformation campaigns. Nevertheless, their influence in terms of the size of the rewards and domestic adoption costs has dropped in comparison to the EU as the latter has increased its rewards, strengthened conditionality and regained some of its lost credibility capabilities. The most significant change visible during the Covid-19 crisis is a further fragmentation in addressing individual WB states by Russia, China and Turkey, whereas the EU remains the only external actor capable and willing to addresses the entire WB region.

ABSTRACT In this paper, we test a widely accepted assumption in literature, namely, that due to its universal(istic) and humanistic character aiming to transcend ethnic boundaries, art is an effective tool for overcoming inter-ethnic divisions, and further, that people consider art effective to this specific purpose. To test this assumption, we ran a socio-psychological experiment at different universities in Bosnia–Herzegovina. Students were asked to assess the aesthetic value of the selected art installation, but were given different names, surnames and city of the artist, since names and places tend to indicate ethnicity in Bosnia–Herzegovina. We hypothesized that the students would attach greater value to the work of an artist perceived to belong to their ethnic group than that of one thought to belong to another group. The results revealed that the artist’s perceived ethnicity did not play a role in evaluating the value of the work presented. The findings demonstrate that the ‘the other’ in Bosnia–Herzegovina is not always perceived through an ethno-political lens as the literature often suggests. Furthermore, it found that art per se is not necessarily perceived as an effective tool for bridging inter-ethnic divides.

This chapter addresses the process of the European Union's enlargement towards the Western Balkan states. It seeks to add to the theorisation of solidarity in international relations (IR) by applying the concept of solidarity to empirical analysis of the EU–WB relationship. The findings show that solidarity as a special relationship has initially been a more relevant framework for understanding the EU-WB relationship. However, the global crises, enlargement fatigue, and great powers competition in the region have forced the EU to strengthen both the special relationship as well as solidarity as a friendship practice. What is currently still missing is a more assertive strategic communications approach by the EU in the WB states in order to be able to continue to strengthen its own legitimacy, the legitimacy of its contribution, and expectations in the solidarity relationship with the WB. Simultaneously, the EU also needs stronger commitment to the liberal values in the EU itself...

The main aim of this paper is to contribute to the literature on ontological security by empirically investigating how the European Union (EU), which is perceived as one of the most important actors that provides means and/ or grounds for overcoming antagonisms through transformation of the ‘Self-Other’ dialectics, fails to become an agent of peace. Drawing on the case of Republika Srpska (RS), a political entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), we aim to understand how the EU’s post-conflict stabilization efforts, which, among others, presuppose the de-intensification of the antagonistic identity narratives, become entrapped in ethnopolitical narratives, and even ‘ethnicized’ by the ethnopolitical elite in RS. To answer these questions, we analyzed news articles at two critical junctures, namely the negotiations on the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (2005–2007) and the Butmir Process (2009), two of the most important EU-driven initiatives in post-conflict BiH. We find that...

In this article, we analyze how the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA), which signalizes the overall (positive) progress and development of the potential candidate country of the post-Yugoslav space, is not straightforwardly translated as a benchmark for progress and development by the political elite. Drawing on securitization theory in order to understand the grammar of security, the wider discursive context, and the position of power and authority in RS during the analyzed period – and informed by the triangulation of content and discourse analysis – we show how the negotiations for the SAA were (mis)used in order to present both the “internal and external Other” as an existential threat for Republika Srpska. Our analysis shows that although the securitizing acts of the political elite from RS did not succeed in terms of the final outcome as the SAA was signed, certain security narratives, which are present in the contemporary sociopolitical landscape in BiH, have been...

The focus of this article is on the rise of populism and Euroscepticism in the context of the crisis of liberal internationalism and of the EU in particular. The article considers the view that the weak integration of Slovenian–EU politics makes the country vulnerable to this trend. Modern-nationalist, postmodern-cosmopolitan and faux-modern-partially modernised variations of populism are explored. The research draws on public opinion surveys, party manifestos, focus groups with party supporters, and interviews with mediators in elite and popular debates. The dominant modern economist/functionalist view of the EU is shown to have fed into different framings in line with the underlying thick ideologies. On the right, this has been a retro-modern nationalist reaction to the EU’s overly progressive policy and polity, with certain illiberal faux-modern elements like authoritarianism and ethno cultural exclusivism. On the left, it has reinforced the already existing contradictions with (...

The aim of this article is to re-examine the concept of ?EU normative power? in the revised EU approach to enlargement policy announced in 2020. Drawing on conceptualisation of power in Foreign Policy Analysis the article applies the reading of the EU?s soft and hard power - both as capability and as influence - to EU normative power. The empirical part thus identifies above four elements within the EU?s promotion of its particular norms and within the EU?s strife for international normality via enlargement policy. The results show that the new enlargement methodology does offer change of EU normative power. The EU could more effectively condition the respect of its particular norms by an exemplary domestic practice assuring its own domestic and foreign policy legitimacy and in turn by developing and applying the needed capabilities for achieving attractiveness. Even though a plan of positive conditionality and better-defined conditions in direct negotiations carries such potential,...