Joining the EU is seen as desirable to these countries, so they work to establish friendly relations with the rest of the EU members and become democratic. The horse and cart are properly ordered.

There isn’t a single country that became more democratic and improved its relations with the EU in exchange for the benefits of membership.

Romania, Croatia and Bulgaria all introduced democratic reforms and resolved disputes specifically in order to meet accession requirements. Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia have all also made reforms and/or resolved disputes as part of their ongoing accession negotiations.