Policy Paper. How to Defeat State Capture through Civil Society Support in Serbia

The paper explores Serbia's democratic transition post-2000, emphasizing the European Union's crucial role in this process. It highlights that without EU pressure, necessary reforms would have progressed slowly. The EU's incentive-based strategies, particularly political conditionality, are examined as vital tools for fostering democratization and integration into the Western community. The effectiveness of linking benefits, such as EU membership prospects, to specific reform conditions is analyzed, with a focus on the Copenhagen criteria's impact on Eastern European countries.