Stabilitocracy and state capture as challenges in the European Union integration of the Western Balkans

In the democratization processes of the countries referred to as the Western Balkans Six, namely Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Serbia, the prospect of European Union (EU) membership has served as a primary driving force for reform. However, the EU's conditionality-based integration strategy has failed to achieve democratic consolidation and has led to a shift in the Union's priorities toward ensuring regional stability. This study argues that the EU's stability-oriented approach in the region has not promoted democratic institutionalization but has instead facilitated the entrenchment of authoritarian tendencies. In this context, it is asserted that a semi-authoritarian form of governance, conceptualized as "stabilitocracy", has emerged in the Western Balkans. This regime type is shaped by practices involving the state capture against institutions and by mutual interactions with neo-colonial imperial structures, under the guise of ensuring stability aligned with EU interests. Although the literature on democratization processes in the Western Balkans is extensive, the structural characteristics and transformation patterns of the region's semi-authoritarian regimes remain underexplored. This study aims to contribute to the theoretical debates by analyzing the concept of stabilitocracy within the framework of neo-colonial imperialism theory. Methodologically, a qualitative research approach has been adopted. A descriptive analysis was employed, drawing upon both domestic and international sources found in the literature, including published monographs, scholarly articles, official reports, websites, news articles, and books. In addition, media scanning was conducted, and the official websites of the six Western Balkan countries, along with research institutions focusing on the region, were examined. KEY WORDS: EU Conditionality, Western Balkans, State Capture, Neo-colonial Imperialism, Stabilitocracy.