Geopolitical conditions and assumptions for establishing the Western Balkans Regional Economic Area as a premise for accelerated EU membership

This paper primarily deals with the politics of regional integration, as a tool for war prevention, economic development and political cooperation. Acknowledging its imperfections and limitations, the European Union is the pioneer of such integration and de facto the most advanced and successful model of regionalism seen so far. It is also an actor that seeks to promote regional integration elsewhere, particularly in its neighbourhood. The paper thus analyzes the origins of the Western Balkans Regional Economic Area and the EU's role in mentoring the initiative. The Western Balkans region is presumably the final piece of the puzzle for completing the so- called EU project. This neighbouring region is the most recent one to emulate the EU's model of integration. The establishment of the Western Balkans Regional Economic Area at the Trieste summit in 2017 by the Western Balkans Six's prime ministers (Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, The North Macedonia, Kosovo* and Albania) under the EU auspices, is primarily the result of a common goal of the parties to join the European Union. Contrary to what many authors would say, the WBREA is not a consequence of an imposition coming from the EU. It is a domestically driven project created in order to increase the low intra-regional trade among the WB6..