Viewed increasingly as a ‘normative’ power, the European Union has come to dictate what is regarded as ‘normal’ or ethically superior behaviour and standards not only in its domestic realm, but also in its neighbourhood and beyond. This ideational dimension of the European Union’s foreign policy is most apparent in enlargement policy, its most successful foreign policy tool to date. This article argues that the European Union’s ‘normative power’ is being tested in its enlargement policy towards the Western Balkans and analyses the extent of this challenge through the Union’s enlargement conditionality concerning the Roma, the most discriminated and marginalised group in the Western Balkans. By specifically focusing on the protection and promotion of the rights of the Roma in the Western Balkan countries, the article contends that despite decades of efforts that have dramatically improved the legal infrastructures of the Western Balkan states and harmonised them with the EU legislation, the overall picture is still bleak and the Roma populations in the Western Balkans continue to face discrimination in almost all spheres of life.