Among the main stumbling blocks of European Union-Western Balkan integration are the differences in perceptions on both sides. Today, the gap between what the Western Balkan politicians and citizens think about the European Union and what the politicians and citizens in the EU member states think about the Western Balkans is probably wider than ever. This volume offers fresh insights about these misperceptions and how to possibly bridge the gap. It examines perceptions about the region's "European perspectives" both on the side of the six Western Balkan countries - Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia - and the key European Union member states (Italy, Germany, Croatia), international donors, USA. An analysis of the diverse views regarding the prospects of EU - Western Balkan integration is today highly relevant, in view of the current uncertainties regarding European Union's enlargement policy, particularly after the attack of Russia on Ukraine and candidate status granted to Ukraine and Moldova.

Milica Uvalic is Professor at the University of Perugia, Italy. She was also member of the UN Committee for Development Policy and Assistant Minister in the first post-MiloSevic government in FR Yugoslavia. Recent publications include Towards Economic Inclusion in the Western Balkans coedited with W. Bartlett (Palgrave, 2022) and The Economic and Investment Plan for the Western Balkans co-authored with W. Bartlett and M. Bonomi (European Parliament, 2022).

Chapter 1. Milica Uvalic (University of Perugia, Italy): The deteriorating mutual perceptions of the European Union and the Western Balkans (Introduction and overview)

Part I. Perceptions from the West

Chapter 2. Will Bartlett (European Institute, London School of Economics, UK): How perceptions and misperceptions influence the allocation of European overseas development assistance (ODA) to the Western Balkans

Chapter 3. Renzo Daviddi (former EU official): Moving Bosnia and Herzegovina towards European Union membership: a daunting task

Chapter 4. Stefano Bianchini (University of Bologna, Italy): Yugoslav partition and post-war EU integration: The role of Italy, 1990-2022

Chapter 6. Dejan Jovic (University of Zagreb, Croatia): Imagining Europe in a new and small state: the case of Croatia

Chapter 7. Ivan Vujacic (University of Belgrade, Serbia): The US in the Western Balkans: reluctant, late and distant involvement

Part II. Perceptions from the region

Chapter 8. Jovan Teokarevic (University of Belgrade, Serbia): The image of the European Union in the Western Balkans

Chapter 9. Jelena Dzankic (European University Institute, Florence): Perceptions and misperceptions of EU conditionality in the Western Balkans: a case of a 'capability-expectations gap'?

Chapter 10. Odeta Barbullushi (University of Tirana, Albania): The EU and the Western Balkans: A strategic relationship, in need of renewed trust and enhanced engagement

Chapter 11. Srdan Bogosavljevic (University of Belgrade): The foggy future of the Balkans in or out of the EU

Part III. Perceptions from individual countries

Chapter 12. Ditmir Bushati (University of Tirana, Albania): The European Union and the Western Balkans, an endless story. The case of Albania

Chapter 13. Nedzma Dzananovic MiraScija, Jasmin Hasic, Margareta Roncevic (University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina): Mis-coordinated integration mechanisms: The role of the EU agents in decelerating accession progress of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Chapter 14. Gëzim Krasniqi (University of Edinburgh): Pro EU, no matter what: EU (mis)perceptions in Kosovo

Chapter 15. Gordana Djurovic (University of Podgorica, Montenegro): The perception of the EU and its policies through European integration SWOT analysis. A view from Montenegro

Chapter 16. Simonida Kacarska (European Policy Institute, Skopje, North Macedonia): Reinforcing or conflicting? Conditionality and political socialization in the EU accession process in the Republic of North Macedonia

Chapter 17. Aleksandra Krstic (University of Belgrade, Serbia): Love and hate relationship: media framing of the official political communication about the EU in Serbia's media

Chapter 18: Milica Uvalic (University of Perugia, Italy) and Will Bartlett (European Institute, London School of Economics, UK): Bridging the gap in European Union - Western Balkan perceptions