Croatia, Serbia & the EU: The Legacy of Ethnic Nationalism in the Accession Process (thesis)

Abstract

This paper addressed the legacy of ethnic violence in Croatia and Serbia, as representative of the former Yugoslav region, in relation to their potential membership to the EU . Serbia and Croatia, of the Western Balkan states, had the largest roles in the ethnic conflicts ofthe past century and both have pursued accession in the past decade. More than the incidence of violence, however, this paper examines the influence of manufactured hatreds and the role of nationalism within these governments. This paper has six chapters, each addressing a different facet of this issue. The first three give the background of both the Balkan states and the EU and build a framework to analyze the states' current progress. The latter three analyze the progress made by Croatia and Serbia in the last decade and compare their progress, looking at each state's path in the last decade and the continuing legacy of war crimes. [From the Introduction]