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This chapter analyzes relations between the European Union (EU) and the Republic of Kosovo for the period between 2008 and 2020. On February 17, 2008, Kosovo declared its independence and became the newest state in Europe. The EU is a strategic partner for Kosovo. All of Kosovo's governments have declared EU membership as a national priority. But the EU has applied ambiguity and ambivalence towards the Republic of Kosovo, and five of its twenty-seven member states have not yet recognized Kosovo's independence. These ambiguity and ambivalence, addressed in this research, are visible in the two European institutions: the European Commission and the European Council, which support the Kosovar state but at the same time take into account the positions of the five non-recognising EU member countries. Moreover, the case of visa non-liberalization shows the impact of the EU's ambivalence. However, the EU, with the support of the United States of America (USA), is playing the role of a mediator in order to normalize the bilateral relations between Kosovo and Serbia. The findings of this research revealed that the dialogue resolved many technical issues, but full normalization and reciprocal official recognition of the two states have not yet taken place. ; Peer reviewed

The Republic of North Macedonia, a candidate country in the EU, is continuously subject to conditionality in relation to establishing a professional and effective public administration from the EU institutions and from the civil society. This paper employs the qualitative methodology of process tracing to find out whether the EU conditionality has managed to establish a merit-based civil service. The data are gathered and analyzed for a period of ten years while analyzing the legal and institutional structure of the civil service. The findings identify the factors that hampered or prolonged the implementation of reforms and they offer insights on the conditions necessary for the civil service reforms to take place.