This paper investigates when and how Islamic political actors support democracy, and in particular, the EU's democratic criteria subsumed under membership conditionality. The research focuses on the main Islamic organizations in two Muslim-majority, EU applicant states, Turkey and Albania. The...

The EU conditionality has been analyzed mainly in the context of the more advanced transition countries of Central and Eastern Europe. While the positive role of the EU incentives for transition to democracy and market economy has been widely recognized in that case, it remains to be seen...

Since its emergence from a turbulent post-communist transition, Albania has achieved remarkable progress in economic and social development. Governance improvements, especially in the effectiveness of public administration, have been instrumental to the country's impressive economic performance...

The European integration process has, for more than two decades, represented a vital issue for Albania. This process has been evolving gradually and Albania is currently working towards receiving ‘candidate country’ status, subject to the fulfillment of key measures identified in the 2012...