title: The Beijing and the Brussels effects on the Western Balkans compared
abstract: Conditionality is an ambiguous instrument of the toolbox in the asymmetrical relations between both the European Union or China, and Western Balkan candidate states, respectively. However, the conceptual interpretations and the practical implications of conditionality of either the EU or China are nowhere near similar; this study even proposes the hypothesis that they are contrasting to each other. The Brussels effect is exercised through legal institutions and standards and stems from the soft 
journal: Papers from the International Scientific Conference of the European Studies Department Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence Faculty of Philosophy at Sofia University “St Kliment Ohridski”