ABSTRACT
From the perspective of 2019, it is impossible to give the post-1989 history of Southeastern Europe either a simply optimistic or pessimistic twist. In a region which, since the early modern period, has suffered from the rivalry of external powers more than it profited from it, European integration has clearly been a promising prospect. It would bring a new form of bonding, leaving large parts of nation state sovereignty intact while setting up a single legal and political framework which facilitates cooperation within Southeastern Europe and on the continent as a whole. Theoretically, European integration not only diminishes the arena for conflict and but also promotes economic development through access to the Common Market and to the EU’s Structural Funds. But so far, European integration has produced uneven economic results in Southeastern Europe. It only strengthened differences between the states within the region, especially between those already members of the Union and those who are not. Another cleavage goes right through the societies themselves, dividing citizens who feel they benefit from European integration from those who doubt it.
