Building Europe through Education: Erasmus+ and the Dynamics of Albania’s Europeanization

Education and mobility have become central pillars of the European Union’s strategy for promoting integration and influence beyond its borders. This paper investigates the impact of international student exchanges on Europeanization and soft diplomacy, taking Albania as a case study. By analyzing the Erasmus+ programme through a documentary and analytical approach, the study explores how academic mobility operates as a vehicle for transmitting European norms, values, and institutional models in candidate countries. Drawing on official EU reports, national statistics, and existing literature, the paper identifies Erasmus+ as a dual instrument educational and diplomatic that contributes to both individual transformation and institutional alignment with EU standards. The analysis highlights how participation in Erasmus+ strengthens students’ European identity, intercultural competence, and perception of the EU as a normative power, while also influencing domestic higher education governance through policy learning and adaptation. However, persistent challenges remain, including unequal access, limited institutional absorption, and weak mechanisms linking returnee alumni to national academic development. The findings emphasize the strategic role of educational diplomacy as a bottom-up process of Europeanization that extends the EU’s soft power in the Western Balkans. The paper concludes by underlining the relevance of Erasmus+ as a catalyst for shaping pro-European social attitudes and enhancing Albania’s integration trajectory. Received: 13 October 2025 / Accepted: 16 December 2025 / Published: January 2026