Paper Titles & Abstracts

Montenegro has undergone a remarkable transformation since becoming independent in 2006. In comparison to the neighbouring countries Montenegro has remained stable and the focused exclusively on the integration into the EU. Yet, like Bosnia, Macedonia, Kosovo and Serbia, Montenegro, too is characterised by deep divisions within society and among different ethnic groups. Yet, while statebuilding, democratization and particularly Europeanization have stalled in other post-Yugoslav countries, Montenegro has advanced to candidate status and membership talks without any major problems. This paper will examine why this is the case and if it is really appropriate to consider Montenegro as success story in the Balkans. By doing so, we will focus on the consolidation of statehood, EU integration and democratization as our variables to measure "success" and use the comparison to other post-Yugoslav states to show Montenegro's progress. We will use internal political stability as well as the small size of Montenegro as our dependent variable to explain this progress and will discuss in the final pages of the paper if Montenegro's success is truly based on transformative changes and adoptions to Europe, or could be explained otherwise.