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To many international observers, the Balkan Peninsula epitomizes the notion of political fragmentation. In fact, there even exists a word balkanization derived from the region's name, which connotes just that. This reputation largely stems from a history of bloody conflicts between its various nation-states comprised of several different linguistic, ethnic, and religious groups; the most notable examples of such conflicts are the Balkan Wars preceding World War I and the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s.
Over the last ten years, however, this region, so associated with divisiveness, has attempted to affect a colossal shift by pursuing integration with the larger European community. Slovenia and Croatia, the two most advanced economies within the former Yugoslavia, joined the European Union in 2004 and 2013, respectively; similarly, Romania and Bulgaria, nations largely untouched by the bloodshed of the 1990s, joined in 2007. The remaining six countries of the region Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia are now collectively known as the Western Balkans and represent the last region of non-ex-Soviet territory to be integrated into the European Union.
This will not be the case for long, though. In 2014, EU leaders proclaimed their support for Western Balkan integration during a European Union Western Balkans summit held in Berlin to commemorate the 100th anniversary of World War I, whose first shots were fired by Austro-Hungarian soldiers in Serbia. Although somewhat slowed by recent issues within the EU, including the refugee crisis, the Greek debt crisis, and Brexit, the process has seen renewed vitality in early 2018, with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini stating that "the door is open" and that "there is a clear path for the Western Balkans to finally join the European Union." The Western Balkan nations have become a priority as Bulgaria and Austria, two nations historically connected with the Western Balkans, hold the presidency of the Council of the European Union, and top EU officials such as Mogherini and European Commission President...