ABSTRACT
The chapter examines the foundational principles of European Union (EU) that have made it an enviable alternative not only for new and potential new member states, but also for the region and region's neighbors to the south and east overall. The member–state building approach used with the 2004 EU entrant states, the Central and Eastern European Countries, continued in the Balkans. Confidence and optimism soon gave way to embarrassment and humiliation as efforts at diplomatic and military intervention in the Balkans failed to produce a peace settlement and an end to the fighting. After initial resistance, the United States finally agreed to transfer North Atlantic Treaty Organization's Stabilization Force military mission in Bosnia to the EU in December 2004. The EU has continued to refine its member–state building model by increasing tangible support to Macedonia while working together with the state's leaders. The EU represents a unifying factor for neighborhood that may reform society, politics, economics, and rule of law.
