Paper Titles & Abstracts

The proposed paper will examine the link between democratisation, statebuilding and EU integration in the Western Balkans by focusing on national minority policies as part of the conditions for EU accession in Croatia and Macedonia. Due to the legacy of the recent wars and conflicts in the region, minority policies are of increasing importance for the democratic consolidation of the Western Balkans. As the first candidate countries for EU accession in the region, the two cases provide insight into the dynamic relationship between the democratisation and EU conditionality. The paper will utilise qualitative methodology and process tracing of documents and primary data from interviews with stakeholders conducted in late 2010 and early 2011.