The European Union’s credibility in the Western Balkans is being undermined by its own double standards, with the bloc prioritising short-term stability over genuine democratic reform, a new report from the Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group (Biepag) warned.

The policy brief, authored by Jovana Marović, argues that while the EU continues to praise formal progress towards accession, it often overlooks democratic backsliding, sending mixed signals that have allowed entrenched elites to tighten their grip on power.

“The EU has, at critical moments, traded its foundational values – democracy, the rule of law, and human rights – for interests, both pragmatic and strategic,” the report said. “This approach has produced a paradoxical dynamic: while formal integration has progressed, the quality and credibility of reforms have not.”

The report highlighted the stark gap between the EU’s optimistic public messaging and its own more critical country assessments, warning that this inconsistency is “eroding the transformative potential of the accession process” and leaving citizens disillusioned.

In Montenegro, where the European Commission has approved a roadmap to close all chapters by 2026, Biepag questioned whether this “represents genuine progress or merely wishful thinking”, pointing to a mismatch between the Commission’s optimism and the cautious stance of member states that ultimately hold veto power.

The report also scrutinised Albania’s rapid progress in opening negotiation clusters, suggesting that the speed “raises questions about the lowering of standards”, while Bosnia & Herzegovina’s case was cited as an example of “enlargement by exception, not by example”, as modest reforms were rewarded despite persistent dysfunction.

The EU’s inconsistent approach was particularly visible in its treatment of Kosovo, which the report said continues to be handled as a security risk rather than as a partner, despite its alignment with EU foreign policy. Kosovo faced sanctions after tensions in the Serb-majority north, while “no comparable pressure was applied to Serbia, despite credible evidence of Belgrade’s involvement in destabilising activities.”

The report argued that Serbia remains a “strategic partner [but] democratic outlier”, pointing to continued EU praise and financial support despite concerns over judicial independence, media freedom and alignment with EU foreign policy.

“By alternating generous praise with weak conditionality, tolerating bilateral vetoes and privileging short-term geopolitical deals over rule of law benchmarks, the EU has allowed domestic elites to capture the process while reform constituencies lose faith,” the report said.

It warned that “when backsliding goes unpunished, power holders in the Western Balkans can claim, often persuasively, that Brussels ultimately rewards geopolitical alignment and macro-economic projects, rather than good governance.”

The report called for the EU to adopt a clear integration plan that aligns its rhetoric with enforcement, warning that without a recalibration, the EU risks further weakening its influence in the region as “geopolitical competitors are eager to fill the vacuum.”

“The Western Balkans are now more deeply enmeshed in EU programmes than ever before, yet public confidence in the accession process is fading,” the report said, adding that EU praise disconnected from genuine reform “not only undermines the EU’s normative leverage but closes the space for internal criticism.”