EU power in the democratization process of Albania?

Abstract

This paper examines Albania as a Western Balkan country, by investigating the European Union (EU) integration process framework of factors linked with its democracy. In the last decade WBs countries have shown tendencies of stagnation of democratization and over-reliance on strong leaders. The paper deals with some of EU toolbox limits and deadlocks to achieve democratic governance focusing on Albania. On the one hand, strategically EU and its member states are seen to become more self-centered, making thus the EU actorness in the latest as in the Western Balkans less concerned with enlargement. On the other hand, the weakening of the EU integration process, not a clear membership perspective for these countries and lack of benefits from the EU accession process, allowed sometimes the instrumentalization of Europeanization from the internal political actors, leading to the revival of the authoritarian mechanisms. These dynamics enabled the internal actors to use week democratic institutions, political polarization, week state, political crisis, week opposition as legitimacies means of raising their authoritarian power. This internally shifted leading role EU remains one of the hampering factors of an effective democratic governance in Albania.