Asylum systems in the Western Balkans are one of the many results of the externalization of European Union border controls. Regardless of the hopes that the EU might have for these systems to function as a “buffer zone”, there is a need to be realistic about the actual effect that these systems can have. There are a number of gaps showing that the countries in the region are neither willing nor able to process the number of asylum applications that could potentially be lodged by all the persons transiting the region today. These gaps include the lack of capacity to identify and register asylum seekers and to process asylum applications, the failure to conduct refugee status determination procedures in line with basic legal standards, the lack of return procedures and the inability to develop all the necessary systems (such as detention and return) in parallel.