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This paper assesses the performance of European Union countries in achieving sustainable development using an assessment framework based on the 2030 Agenda. Through the application of the Spatial Sustainability Assessment Model, which integrates multi‐criteria analysis with the geographical tool QuantumGIS, European countries are classified according to the four basic dimensions of sustainability (social, economic, environmental, and institutional) organized into various sub‐dimensions, with reference to the year 2020. The results show that Northern countries have better overall sustainability performance in all dimensions except the environment. In contrast, Eastern European and Mediterranean countries perform worse, showing major weaknesses, especially in the economic and institutional dimensions, with a gap between the countries that joined the Union after 2004 and the other states. An in‐depth analysis was conducted to highlight the reasons behind these difficulties in order to give useful indications to public decision‐makers, as a tool for planning, on future choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After almost 30 years from the Dayton Agreement of 1995, time has come to appraise the successes and failures of interventionism in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). By drawing on insights from a practitioner’s perspective, the article explores the dynamic of diplomatic action and offers a template to assess its (in)effectiveness. With time, rifts have emerged in the international community both in messaging and operational terms, which have reduced, rather than increased, the positive effects of concerted action. Moreover, whilst the Office of the High Representative (ohr) has been an important tool for reconstruction and peace-making, its role remains incompatible with the prospect of full European Union (EU) membership, thus becoming a divisive actor. At the same time the US and UK have come to see the ohr and other non-EU organisations, such as nato and the osce, as the main tools for a continued presence in the country, making overall cooperation more complicated. A “grand plan” is therefore needed to reunite the forces of the players of good will. This will require an arrangement for the winding up of the ohr, coupled with constitutional reform. To this end a new vision for BiH is necessary, both at the international and local level, to better spell out what a “European BiH” should really look like. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article evaluates the role that the economic conditionality of the European Union (EU) toward the six Western Balkan countries may play in the transformation of these countries as a part of their EU accession process. The article is a case study of a temporary policy shift that occurred in 2014 in relation to conditions that Bosnia and Herzegovina must fulfill to qualify for opening negotiations on EU membership. It also aims to address what this shift has achieved for the Europeanization of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its progress towards EU accession. The shift, implemented via an economic plan called the Reform Agenda, was an attempt at Europeanization of the country's economic policies that temporarily put aside the constitutional reform demands that had previously dominated the Europeanization discourse. After the first five years of the Reform Agenda, moderate gains primarily in the domain of economic development and fiscal stability were made; however, political fragmentation and nationalistic and secessionist ideas have prevented the reforms from making a stronger impact. Additionally, the lack of a defined desired outcome in terms of measurable economic reforms and the inadequate planning by the EU were not conducive to a more transformative impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bu makale Orta ve Doğu Avrupa’da (ODA) yer alan ve Avrupa Birliği’ne (AB) görece yeni üye olmuş ülkelerin siyasi elitlerinin Türkiye’nin AB sürecine yönelik desteklerindeki farklılaşmayı açıklamayı amaçlamaktadır. Makale Türkiye’nin AB’ye tam üye yapılması, müzakere sürecinin ilerletilmesi, durdurulması veya Türkiye ile ilişkilerin mevcut çerçevesinin yeniden tanzimi konularındaki elitlerin görüşlerini inceleyecektir. Bu farklılaşmayı açıklarken, bu ülkelerin stratejik çıkarları, AB’nin genişlemesine yönelik kamuoyları, Türkiye ile siyasi ve ticari ilişkilerinin seyri gibi faktörlerin etkisinden söz edilebilir. Makale özellikle Türkiye’nin ODA ülkeleriyle ikili ilişkilerinin Türkiye’nin AB’deki geleceğine yönelik görüşler üzerinde belirleyici bir etkisi olacağını öngörmektedir.

Post‑Yugoslav States in the EU Enlargement Process – Political Reflection The main research goal of the article is the assessment of the degree of preparation Post‑Yugoslav state for accession to the European Union. The analysis included states such as the Republic of Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Serbia, Montenegro and the Republic of Kosovo (in the order of announcing independence). An in‑depth analysis confirms that the Republic of Macedonia, the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Montenegro have the status of EU candidate states. The other two: Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Kosovo have the status of potential EU candidates. According to the European Commission, the Republic of Serbia and Montenegro have the highest chances of EU membership, probably in 2025. There are many problems that the Post‑Yugoslav states are struggling with. These states have to “learn” democracy. It should underline that there are still unregulated matters as like as rule of law (implementation in practice), corruption or crime (including organized crime) as well.

The main research goal of the article is the assessment of the degree of preparation Post-Yugoslav state for accession to the European Union. The analysis included states such as the Republic of Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Serbia, Montenegro and the Republic of Kosovo (in the order of announcing independence). An in-depth analysis confirms that the Republic of Macedonia, the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Montenegro have the status of EU candidate states. The other two: Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Kosovo have the status of potential EU candidates. According to the European Commission, the Republic of Serbia and Montenegro have the highest chances of EU membership, probably in 2025. There are many problems that the Post-Yugoslav states are struggling with. These states have to "learn" democracy. It should underline that there are still unregulated matters as like as rule of law (implementation in practice), corruption or crime (including organized crime) as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper examines driving forces of economic growth in the second transition decade, by testing which determinants from the first decade remain dominant, and which new factors appear in explaining growth. To this end a panel simultaneous equation model is estimated based on a sample of 27 transition countries in the period 1999- 2009. According to the main findings of the paper initial conditions do not play a role in determining economic growth in the second decade, but macroeconomic stabilization and structural reforms still matter. However, in contrast to the first decade, the overall impact of structural reforms is not positive, indicating that difficult progress with reforms in the second decade could slow down economic growth. Moreover, EU membership seems to have the additional effect of slowing down the growth of the accessing countries, meaning that once a transition country becomes an EU member it has a similar growth path to other EU countries in terms of lower growth rates. All this indicates that only countries that undertook fast reforms in the early phase of transition experienced significant benefits from reforms, achieving higher levels of economic development and becoming closer to developed EU countries. Finally, investments and openness of the economy appear as new important determinants of growth.