ABSTRACT
This chapter traces the emergence of enlargement as a security strategy in the Balkans. It identifies four key drivers of this strategy: external events, European Union (EU) strategic interests, member state interests and EU values. The chapter shows that while EU actors and processes still play a key role in the implementation of this strategy, the member states have increasingly sought to shape and control the process, with Germany emerging as the 'reluctant hegemon' in the region. Since the early 2000s, the European Union (EU) has developed a clear long-term policy for the Western Balkans by extending the offer of EU membership to these countries. In the Balkans, enlargement has become the EU's security strategy par excellence: integrating the countries into the EU can be seen as a way to overcome ethnic conflicts, promote stability and foster democracy across the region.
