Serbia amidst competing sovereignty claims: balancing the Westphalian legacy with the political pragmatism of European integration

Abstract

This paper analyzes the hypothesis that the recent challenges for Serbian statehood – which culminated in Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence – prompted Serbia to redefine its relationship with the European Union and to accelerate the accession process, and thus to depart from Westphalian nation‐state building by taking the path of neo‐Westphalian member‐state building. It goes on to argue that Serbia’s statehood can best be preserved if it is embedded within the EU body politic, which would represent a move away from the deadlock of a history freighted with the Westphalian legacy. To this end, the paper discusses the implications of three competing claims for the concept of Serbia’s statehood: the EU’s, Kosovo’s, and Serbia’s own claims to sovereignty and pertinently the manner in which the Kosovo situation affected Serbia’s EU integration policy, and to a lesser extent, the EU’s policy towards Serbia.