Description
The research examines how discourses of Europeanness are constructed and questioned in debates on EU enlargement, in the light of its contested transformative approach centered around democratisation and emerging geopolitical paradigm. It investigates how enlargement is framed discursively in the European Parliament and in the national parliaments of Serbia and Montenegro. These two SEE countries are marked by contrasting trajectories in the EU accession negotiations process in recent years. While Montenegro forges ahead as a frontrunner in EU accession negotiations, Serbia is experiencing stagnation after a decade long democratic backsliding and authoritarian drift, which shapes the position of these countries in the symbolic map of Europe. Using thematic analysis, the research identifies patterns in argumentation, value frameworks, and political narratives in MPs’ parliamentary speeches across all party groups, through which Europe and European identity are discursively constructed and redefined. We link our research to broader debates on different approaches to the enlargement policy and the role of enlargement discourses in shaping identity of both the EU and the candidate countries. By uncovering tensions between the EU’s normative self-representation as a democratising actor and the pragmatic approach to the enlargement, we shed a light on the contested meanings of Europeanness. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the political discourse surrounding Western Balkan integration from a perspective identity politics and offer insights into both the obstacles and opportunities shaping the future of the EU enlargement and (Southeast)European identity amidst the geopolitical shift.
