EU integration and party politics in the Balkans EPC ISSUE PAPER NO. 77 SEPTEMBER 2 0 1 4 Edited by Corina Stratulat EUROPEAN POLITICS AND INSTITUTIONS ISSN 1782-494X PROGRAMME The EPC’s Programme on European Politics and Institutions With the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, the new focus of this programme is on adapting the EU’s institutional architecture to take account of the changed set-up and on bringing the EU closer to its citizens. Continuing discussion on governance and policymaking in Brussels is essential to ensure that the European project can move forward and respond to the challenges facing the Union in the 21st century in a democratic and effective manner. This debate is closely linked to the key questions of how to involve European citizens in the discussions over its future; how to win their support for European integration and what are the prospects for, and consequences of, further enlargement towards the Balkans and Turkey. This programme focuses on these core themes and brings together all the strands of the debate on a number of key issues, addressing them through various fora, task forces and projects. It also works with other programmes on cross-cutting issues such as the reform of European economic governance or the new EU foreign policy structures. ii Table of Contents About the authors .................................................................................................................................... v List of tables .......................................................................................................................................... vii Foreword ................................................................................................................................................. ix Executive summary ................................................................................................................................ xi Abbreviations ........................................................................................................................................ xiii 1. Introduction.............................................................................................................. 1 by Corina Stratulat 2. Croatia's party system - From Tuđmanism to EU membership .............................. 13 by Andrew Konitzer 3. European integration and party politics in Montenegro .......................................... 31 by Marko Sošić and Jovana Marović 4. The European question in Serbia's party politics ................................................... 47 by Igor Bandović and Marko Vujačić 5. The EU in Macedonian party politics - Consolidating and dividing ........................ 69 by Simonida Kacarska 6. Albanian political parties, inter-party relations and the EU ..................................... 83 by Odeta Barbullushi 7. The limits of the EU’s transformative power in Bosnia-Herzegovina – Implications for party politics ..................................................................................................... 95 by Bodo Weber 8. Conclusions ......................................................................................................... 107 by Corina Stratulat iii iv About the authors Igor BANDOVIĆ is Senior Programme Manager for the European Fund for the Balkans (EFB) where he has been working since 2008. He is in charge of the Think and Link capacity-building programme for the emerging think tanks in the Balkan region, as well as the supporting policy-development initiatives and projects within the EFB. He coordinated the Gallup Balkan Monitor, a regional public opinion survey which was conducted through partnership with Gallup Europe (2009-2011). Before joining EFB, he worked for the UNDP Serbia team. From 2002 to 2006, he worked for the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights. He has researched and published on many topics, including the role of civil society and human and minority rights in Serbia and the Balkans. Odeta BARBULLUSHI is full time Lecturer of International relations and Vice-Rector for Research and Methodology at the European University of Tirana, and Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Roehampton, London. She received her PhD from the University of Birmingham, Centre for Russian and East European Studies. Her research interests include nationalism and state formation in Southeast Europe, the role of the EU and other external actors in the Balkans, critical security studies and post-structuralism in International Relations. Simonida KACARSKA is a research coordinator at the European Policy Institute in Skopje, Macedonia. She holds a PhD in Politics and International Studies from the University of Leeds in the UK. She was a research fellow at the Central European University, University of Oxford and the University of Edinburgh project The Europeanisation of Citizenship in the Successor States of the Former Yugoslavia. She has both practitioner and research experience related to the political transformation and European integration of the Balkans. She has published in a number of international academic journals and is the author of a several working and policy papers. Andrew KONITZER (PhD, Political Science, University of Pittsburgh) is Associate Director of the Center for Russian and East European Studies and Adjunct Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Pittsburgh. He specialises in electoral institutions, party politics, voting behaviour, European Union enlargement and issues of democratic decentralisation in the Balkans and the Former Soviet Union. His publications include the book Voting for Russia's Governors: Regional Elections and Accountability under Yeltsin and Putin (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006) and articles in journals such as Europe-Asia Studies, East European Politics and Societies, Electoral Studies, Post-Soviet Affairs and Publius: The Journal of Federalism. Jovana MAROVIĆ has been working since 2008 as Researcher coordinator for Institute Alternative, a Podgorica-based think tank. Previously, she has also been a counselor for European integration in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Municipality of Budva. She holds a PhD from the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade and has successfully completed several specialised diplomatic programmes, including the Diplomatic Academy. Since March 2012 she is a member of the working group for Chapter 23-Judiciary and fundamental rights, in the processes of Montenegro’s EU accession negotiations. Marko SOŠIĆ is Researcher at Institute Alternative, a Podgorica-based think tank. His primary areas of interest include the control function of the parliament and integrity of public finance. He has authored numerous policy papers on these and other topics. In 2013, he was appointed by the government as member of the working group for the preparation of Montenegro’s accession negotiations on Chapter 32-Financial control. v Corina STRATULAT is Senior Policy Analyst at the European Policy Centre where she works on issues related to EU enlargement to the Balkans and EU institutional developments. Her research interests include comparative Central and East European politics, elections, democracy, EU institutions, integration and enlargement policy. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Integrated Social Sciences from Jacobs University (Bremen, Germany), a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Contemporary European Studies from Cambridge University (Cambridge, UK) and a Doctorate (PhD) in Political and Social Sciences from European University Institute (Florence, Italy). Marko VUJAČIĆ is Senior Researcher at the European Research Academy Belgrade (EURAK). He is a PhD candidate at the Karl-Franzens University of Graz-Faculty of Law, in the Joint PhD Programme of Diversity Management and Governance, with a research focus on federalism. He holds a degree in International Affairs from University of Belgrade (Serbia), a Master of Arts in Human Rights from the Central European University (Hungary) and a Master in European Studies from the University of Bonn (Germany). He is member of the Federal Committee of the Union of European Federalists (UEF) and, since 2009, the President of the Serbian UEF branch. Bodo WEBER is Senior Associate of the Democratization Policy Council (DPC) concentrating on the Balkans region. He is a longtime analyst of international policy, Balkans politics and society, German foreign policy. He has worked as editor of the journal Perspektiven (Frankfurt/Main) and as board member of the Bosnien-Büro Frankfurt. He has published extensively on politics in the Balkans, post- conflict peacebuilding, democratisation and German foreign policy, and is a regular commentator on these topics in the main Southeast European media. He holds a MA in political science and Eastern European history from the Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe-University in Frankfurt/Main. vi List of tables 2.1 Key dates in Croatia’s integration effort 17 2.2 Post-2000 coalition governments in Croatia 18 2.3 Support for Croatia’s accession to the EU (2000-2011) 22 3.1 The Montenegrin governments since 1991 32 3.2 Voter turnout in Montenegrin elections since the 1990s 33 3.3 Composition of current Montenegrin parliament 34 3.4 Public support for EU integration in Montenegro 36 3.5 Public trust in political parties in Montenegro (2009-2013) 42 4.1 Serbia’s milestones on the EU path 50 4.2 Presidents, Prime Ministers and coalition governments in Serbia 51 4.3 Public support for Serbia’s membership in the European Union 62 5.1 Governing