Over the past decades, the European Union has emerged as a strong political, economic and social entity offering EU citizens stability and prosperity through its enlargement and integration policies. In the Declaration of the Thessaloniki Summit from June 2003, the European perspective has also been officially reiterated for the countries of the Western Balkan region. Thus, EU accession of the Western Balkan states would not only lead to further stability and prosperity in the region itself. It would also make the European Union a stronger global player.
However, today many citizens of the EU member states are not aware of the implications of the EU enlargement process and many of them do not know much about the Western Balkans. In the minds of many Europeans, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo (under UNSCR 1244/1999) seem to lie somewhere at the edge of Europe and just too far away to be considered a neighbour.
Nevertheless, these countries do matter in European politics and they will sooner or later become EU member states. It is therefore our obligation to learn more about their history as well as their social, cultural and religious diversity to contribute our share to a successful integration process of tomorrow.
