"Difficult Steps to the Enlargement of the EU (Some Legal Aspects): The EU’s Foreign and Enlargement Policy for the Western Balkans"

[From the introduction] The foregoing summary of current events indicates the complexity of the situation the EU is dealing with on the Balkans. Currently, it seems that, apart from Croatia and partly Montenegro and Macedonia, the countries are still far away from any meaningful prospects regarding European integration. A detailed overview of all of the intricacies and activities of the European Union’s foreign policy in the Western Balkans is beyond the scope of this paper. Instead, the following discussion addresses the main institutional and legal issues with regard to the process of integration for the countries of the Western Balkans. This process, the Stabilization and Association Process (SAP), is a precondition to enlargement procedures. In the light of the current events, the final part addresses the particularities of the role foreseen for the EU in Kosovo