Albania and the EU's Convenient Fiction

Albania and the EU's Convenient Fiction

The European Union has long preferred a convenient fiction when it comes to Albania: that stability, however manufactured, is a sufficient substitute for democracy. There is no doubt that Albania is one of the economic success stories of the Balkans and also one of its most corrupt countries. The European Union’s views of Albania have been characterised as “stabilitocratic,” referring to a system in which democratic backsliding is tolerated in e…