"The need to engage more with democratic and emancipatory civic actors/movements in the region, to focus more prominently and consistently on the social dimension of enlargement remains a must. It is encouraging that social engagement and civic activism seem to be on the rise in the region. The recent wave of protests, from Banja Luka, Sarajevo to Belgrade or Tirana, many smaller local civic initiatives (against corruption, environmental issues, etc.) advocate for the need for more free, just societies and for a new European momentum that embodies liberal European values, rule of law, democracy and freedom. Those forces can stimulate and support positive developments from below, initiate a new wave of democratisation and Europeanisation beyond captured states and become the long-term alternative to the current elite set-up on the political scene. They can promote the social agenda more intensively than the formal stakeholders.

We argue that the next few years will be decisive for the democratic and European future of the Western Balkans: In addition to a credible enlargement perspective and a positive enlargement narrative, which needs to be reinvented and reinvigorated, it is vital to support rule of law, civil dialogue, pluralism and the fight against corruption as well as the social dimension. It is crucial to invest more in social inclusion, to support the broad vision of just and democratic societies, which needs to include various bottom-up initiatives and actors. Our “WB2EU network” will activate êconnect êresearch êdisseminate on the defined topics by creating interactions and collaborative outputs between academia/researchers with civil society/civic initiatives and stakeholders on national, regional and EU level."

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