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EU foreign policy and ‘perceived coherence’: the case of Kosovo

ABSTRACT To what extent has the European Union’s (EU) foreign policy been coherent in the Western Balkans? Moreover, is EU policy behaviour seen as coherent by local stakeholders? Such questions are of high significance regarding the role of the EU as an external actor and with regard to the Western Balkans in particular. This article assesses EU policy coherence in the case of Kosovo, focusing on the latter’s EU accession prospects and the EU rule of law mission EULEX. Introducing the novel concept of ‘perceived coherence’, the paper argues that EU policies and actors are not perceived as coherent by both local elites and civil society organizations. As a result, the effectiveness of the implementation of the Union’s foreign policy in Kosovo remains low.