ABSTRACT
Why do Balkan political leaders acquiesce to EU demands to the extent that they do and in the way that they do? The answer to this question requires distinguishing between normative arguments based on the ‘logic of appropriateness’ and rational choice arguments based on the ‘logic of consequences’ as driving forces accounting for Balkan compliance. While ‘belonging to Europe’, as a political vision for the future of the Balkans, has a wide resonance among Balkan populations, as confirmed by opinion poll data, the magnetic power of Europe can be expected to have a varying degree of influence on the motivation of political leaders to reform in a Europeanizing direction. Likewise, while the incentive of full membership is equal in strength for all Balkan countries, the conditions for membership are different, as discussed in Chapter 4, as a result of which the cost-benefit analysis is not the same for Bosnian, Serbian, Montenegrin, Kosovar and Bulgarian politicians. Thus, one can expect differences in domestic actors’ motives, both with regard to the concrete conception of gains and losses and in relation to the weight with which normative considerations affect their motivation.
