<p>This thesis is about Turkish accession to the European Union and criteria to be fulfilled in order to become a member state. At Helsinki summit there were defined four main areas, that are the main obstacles of Turkish membership in the structures of EU – military influence in domestic politics, economy disproportions, the issues of minorities living in Turkey and problems with obeying human rights and fundamental freedoms. In addition the attitude among European countries and Turkish political elites has changed dramatically since 1999. There is a great discussion, whose main purpose is, to show if Turkey should or shouldn’t become a part of united Europe. With the help of created conceptual framework, which is empirically based on qualitative methods and with theoretical approach in form of analysis considering human rights, I have developed a set of three hypotheses, that are based on primary and secondary sources like EU, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International reports considering changes of Turkish attitude to the question of human rights. In the process of testing validity or invalidity of those hypotheses, I have tried to conclude, why the implication of reforms considering human is the main obstacle of Turkish membership in the EU.</p> / The paper may be used free, but it is forbidden to copy or use directly any parts of it without earlier contact with author.

This thesis is about Turkish accession to the European Union and criteria to be fulfilled in order to become a member state. At Helsinki summit there were defined four main areas, that are the main obstacles of Turkish membership in the structures of EU – military influence in domestic politics, economy disproportions, the issues of minorities living in Turkey and problems with obeying human rights and fundamental freedoms. In addition the attitude among European countries and Turkish political elites has changed dramatically since 1999. There is a great discussion, whose main purpose is, to show if Turkey should or shouldn’t become a part of united Europe. With the help of created conceptual framework, which is empirically based on qualitative methods and with theoretical approach in form of analysis considering human rights, I have developed a set of three hypotheses, that are based on primary and secondary sources like EU, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International reports considering changes of Turkish attitude to the question of human rights. In the process of testing validity or invalidity of those hypotheses, I have tried to conclude, why the implication of reforms considering human is the main obstacle of Turkish membership in the EU. / <p>The paper may be used free, but it is forbidden to copy or use directly any parts of it without earlier contact with author.</p>

The aim of this paper is to try and answer, to what extent Turkey is fulfilling the Copenhagen Criteria and in which criteria it is seen to be more fragile respective stronger during the years 2015-2016. The study tries to answer the question ”to what extent is Turkey fulfilling the Copenhagen Criteria?”, exploring all three of them, trying to answer where Turkey stands in relation to each one of them. This is a theory consuming study. It is a case study, that uses a theory based on the Copenhagen Criteria, and this is combined with the empirical material collected from trustworthy sources to put forth answers in order to answer the questions of the research. The results of the study show that there are something fulfilled in all three criteria, where its strength can be found in its economy, and is considered to be very competitive on the market. The weaknesses are many, but are clearest in the first criteria, where it shows several flaws regarding e.g. its judiciary problems.

The paper gives a picture of Turkey`s readiness for the membership in the EU. The Copenhagen criteria serve as a base for illustration of the status quo of Turkey`s preparation process. As Turkey`s negotiation process has already last for several decades, the first part of the thesis briefly describes the development of relations between EU and Turkey. The second part concentrates on the Copenhagen criteria and explains its origins as well as its content. Finally, the last part of thesis examinates to what extent Turkey fulfills the given areas of political and economic Copenhagen criteria. The focus was given on the most problematic areas as the main aim was to explain the origins of these problems and consequent obstacles Turkey has to tackle.

The EU has taken a major role in The Republic of Kosovo, creating a new future for the country via the EU office in Kosovo with its role in implementing EU norms in Kosovo. Kosovo is a potential candidate state for the EU and has declared its interest in becoming an EU member state.  Kosovo has implemented crucial reforms and shows commitment to advancing on its European path. Kosovo does not fulfil the general requirements for the accession based on the Copenhagen criteria yet, and there remain major internal and external hindrances to its membership. The rule of law, despite the progress made in adapting the legal framework, Kosovo needs to step up its efforts to strengthen the independence of the judiciary. Additionally, Kosovo must fight corrupted structures and organised crime by building strong and independent institutions. Furthermore, reforms in the economic area are needed to tackle Kosovo's informal economy and unemployment. Despite, the Copenhagen Criteria, the main hindrances are the five non-recognizers in the EU and the required normalization process with Serbia. Kosovo must get its independence recognized by the five non-recognizers in the EU and stabilize its relations with Serbia before focusing on the accession to the EU.

This thesis aims to study obstacles which Turkey faces regarding EU accession. The main focus will be at the historical context and background information to clarify Turkey-EU relationship and institutional aspects such as; the Copenhagen criteria will be analyzed. Interaction between identity politics and Turkeys Europeanization project will be examined by analyzing arguments regarding this issue. The historical context is important for realizing in how Turkey's negotiation process is affected and how the process is evolved. By examining this, a more transparent understanding is going to develop in the issue of why Turkey never will be able to identify itself with the EU. Analysis regarding why Turkey as a secular state develops into an increasingly Islamized state is highlighted. Answers must be given to whether Turkey can be interpreted as a "bridge" between East and West and where we can place Turkey in the spatial context.In relation to this process, it`s important to notice that changes in Turkey from the Euro-friendly attitude it once had has gradually turned to the more Euro-skeptic position. One of the several reasons to Euro-skepticism may be the ongoing economic growth. This, as many other factors contribute to the self-confidence, which in turn affects internal arguments about a new era of the so-called neo-ottomanization. By presenting arguments related to the process, it will be made clear how Turkey increasingly clarifies its position within the civilizations. The thesis will present that there is a trend towards Islamization which the AKP government gives impetus for. The intention is to see if the era with the AKP government will push Turkey to democracy or even more of an Islamization. This paper will point out the actual intentions of AKP and its politicians. It will clarify their ideas about a possible EU membership, Europeanization and integration. This process will be illustrated by using Samuel Huntington’s theoretical perspective by the "Clashes of civilizations" as inspiration throughout the thesis. In the part of empirical analysis, debates and arguments is cited and examined, with a critical idea analysis and also structured with argumentation analysis.

Serbia is said to enter the European Union (EU) in 2025 and a criteria for inclusion in the EU are the Copenhagen criteria’s. The purpose of this thesis is to examine how the EU as an external and international actor acts to further the implementation of the first Copenhagen criteria concerning democratic institutions, the rule of law, human rights and protection of minorities. Through a qualitative theory consuming study this thesis investigates the EUs aims and actions in Serbia, a country outside the boards of the EU by applying a theoretical framework based on Lawrence Whiteheads theory on international dimensions of democratization. As a result the thesis finds that the European Union has an interest in democracy promotion in Serbia as defined in the Copenhagen criteria. The EU uses several different methods such as economic aid, learning resources, diplomacy and normative contagion to attain its purpose. But the true reason behind the EUs interest is Serbia is discussed among scholars as well as the effective ways of implementing EUs strategies and the development of sanctions against states that do not comply with the democratic values of the Copenhagen criteria.

La Hongrie est membre de l’Union Européenne depuis le premier mai 2004. Après les premières élections libres du printemps 1990, les gouvernements successifs ont entamé et mené à bien les préparatifs d’adhésion en se conformant aux critères de Copenhague de 1993. Le propos de cette thèse est d’examiner les transformations politiques, économiques et sociales sur une longue période [1990-2009] afin de mettre en évidence la complexité des relations entre l’intégration européenne et une démocratie moins stable qu’on ne le pensait, d’autant que la question rom révèle non seulement la persistance, mais encore la prospérité d’idées nationalistes et racistes. / Hungary has been a member of the European Union since May 1st, 2004. After the first free elections in spring 1990, governments began and achieved the entry process to the European Union following the 1993 Copenhagen criteria. This thesis aims to examine the political, economical and social transformations in the scope of a long era [from 1990 to 2009] in order to show the complexity of the relations pertaining to the European integration and a less stable democracy than one thought, especially since the Roma question reveals not only persisting but also flourishing nationalistic and racist ideologies.

The purpose of this study is to present if it is the EU’s dissemination of norms or other factors that affects Kosovo’s accession as a candidate country to the EU. The purpose was answered by finding out to what extent Kosovo can meet EU standards and values in terms of the Copenhagen criteria first criterion of stable institutions. Furthermore, what forms of dissemination the EU have used in trying to spread these standards. The study has used a main theory called Normative Power Europe, by Ian Manners, which describes the EU as a normative force and its mechanism of spreading values towards third-party countries. The conclusion in this study is that the biggest factor in why Kosovo isn’t a candidate country to the EU is because of the state’s infected conflict with Serbia.The conflict with Serbia is the basis of all the factors that keeps Kosovo to fail to meet EU requirements. Although, the EU have made improvements constitutionally since its increased commitment after 2008, the constitution hasn’t been implemented in practice by the Kosovan regime. The conflict needs to be resolved before Kosovo can take the next step and adapt to the rest of Europe.

This study investigates how the European Union may have an impact on countries before and after accession to the union applying the theory of conditionality through a case study of Romania. To answer the main objective of this study, three research questions will be answered, theses are: 1) How have the process of Romania looked like before and after accession to a membership in European Union? 2) How has the development of the Political Criteria been before and after its accession to European Union? 3) How does the theory of conditionality work during and after Romania´s accession to the European Union. The study will use the methodology of a qualitative desk study with the theoretical framework of conditionality and the Copenhagen Political Criteria. The study has concluded that Romania faces similar problems with the political criteria as they did almost twenty years ago. It also concludes that the EU conditionality have had impact on Romania both before and after their accession the EU, but just to some extent.