This dissertation thesis is focused on the analysis of changing relations between the Western Balkan countries (WB) and the European Union (EU) against background of actual transformation processes in these countries. The Western Balkans represents a group of countries which were not part of so-called Eastern Enlargement of the EU, but are also slowly heading towards the EU. The EU distinguishes three groups of countries within the WB: Croatia has become an acceding country; then here is a group of candidate countries (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Montenegro, Serbia), and the last group is formed by so-called potential candidate countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo). All of these above mentioned countries are part of the Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP) which nowadays represents the core of the Enlargement Policy of the EU and stands for the main research topic of this thesis. The thesis also comprehends the history of the enlargement process of the EU and the basic theoretical concepts of the (EU) enlargement. The "transformation" chapter includes a theoretical grounding too. Three hypotheses were verified (mainly) by results of transformation, evaluation of Copenhagen criteria by the European Commission, and by the statistical methods (Principal Components Analysis and Cluster Analysis) based on a number of economic and demographic indicators.

Presented thesis Programs of the European Union of supporting regional interparliamentary cooperation in the region of Western Balkans as an instrument of regionalisation is focusing on regional parliamentary cooperation in the region of Western Balkans and programs of the European Union which are programmed to support this particular cooperation. The study is framed in the theory of new regionalism and the approach of socialization in international relations, which both offer in the case of European integration explanation of why regionalization takes place. The aim of the thesis is to answer the question whether the European Union is successful in its support of regionalization via regional parliamentary cooperation. Meaning if the mechanism of socialization chosen by the Union is effective and if institutional capacities of the national parliament in the region to conclude this cooperation are being built either via direct engagement with the Union, or via indirect way by engaging with regional initiatives active in regional parliamentary cooperation such as Regional Cooperation Council, COSAP and Cetinje Parliamentary Forum. By analyzing the mechanism of socialization and the environment in which the socialization takes place the thesis identifies if, and how much is the European Union able to...