Leaders in Kosovo and Serbia need to dial back the nationalist rhetoric and prepare their populations for concessions – and the EU’s role in this process remains indispensable
Russia is working to keep Bosnia divided. But many of the country’s problems are homegrown or exacerbated by neighbouring states.
Western Balkans states need to join the EU’s energy transition. They can do so in several ways.
A European political community would help candidates for EU membership resist outside pressure and enact democratic and economic reforms
The EU’s enlargement policy will only remain effective if it judiciously manages its relations with Western Balkans countries
The still-incomplete web of allies and institutions that the EU has woven in the Balkans in the last 30 years is not only strong but also valuable to its geopolitical struggle against Russia
The EU needs to convince Serbia’s newly re-elected president that his country must choose between European integration and subservience to Russia
Софийският офис на Европейския съвет за външна политика има удоволствието да Ви покани на представянето на новия доклад на Владимир Шопов, „Да разцъфтят хиляди…
China is building up its influence in the Western Balkans through projects focused on everything from energy and infrastructure to culture, education, and media. If the European Union is to achieve its geopolitical goals in the region, it will need to understand the nature of competition with Beijing in all these areas.
The West has only recently started to develop a coordinated strategy to compete with China in the Balkans. This contest has now begun in earnest.
Russia is working to keep Bosnia divided. But many of the country’s problems are homegrown or exacerbated by neighbouring states.
As European and US ambivalence towards the Western Balkans persists, the region will be in increasing danger of falling into an endless spiral of competition between various foreign actors
It will be difficult to sustain progress for Bosnia or the region without a credible and clear EU accession process
The covid-19 crisis has accentuated Western Balkans countries’ pre-existing vulnerabilities – but has not brought about a new political era in the region
Restoring independence to the judiciary and strengthening the rule of law are key to the country’s future stability and success
The EU should demonstrate its commitment to the Western Balkans by encouraging countries there to resolve their outstanding disputes
Introduction By loading this video, you consent to your personal data being sent to YouTube, a service provided by Google. Google may combine your data…
Introduction Few parts of Europe are more marked by emigration than the Western Balkans.[1] Yet despite many decades of its people leaving…
The EU should do more to promote circular migration as part of their ongoing pursuit of European integration
Introduction “Serbia and the rest of the Balkans are a pawn in a great game of powers between Russia, the EU, and the US.”…
Leaders in Kosovo and Serbia need to dial back the nationalist rhetoric and prepare their populations for concessions – and the EU’s role in this process remains indispensable
Western Balkans states need to join the EU’s energy transition. They can do so in several ways.
A European political community would help candidates for EU membership resist outside pressure and enact democratic and economic reforms
The EU’s enlargement policy will only remain effective if it judiciously manages its relations with Western Balkans countries
The still-incomplete web of allies and institutions that the EU has woven in the Balkans in the last 30 years is not only strong but also valuable to its geopolitical struggle against Russia
The EU needs to convince Serbia’s newly re-elected president that his country must choose between European integration and subservience to Russia
The West has only recently started to develop a coordinated strategy to compete with China in the Balkans. This contest has now begun in earnest.
Russia’s war on Ukraine could have a heavy impact on other post-Soviet countries. Unless the EU helps these countries deal with the effects of the conflict, they could become increasingly dependent on the Kremlin.
The deepening relationship between Belgrade and Moscow has long created unease across the Balkans. By refusing to condemn Russia’s war on Ukraine, Serbia has proven once again that it is a liability to the EU and NATO.
Ukraine’s leaders have been careful not to organise the war effort around hatred of Russians. Societies recover much faster from war than from hate.
China is building up its influence in the Western Balkans through projects focused on everything from energy and infrastructure to culture, education, and media. If the European Union is to achieve its geopolitical goals in the region, it will need to understand the nature of competition with Beijing in all these areas.
How much influence does China already have in the Western Balkans and how should European policymakers react?
North Macedonia and Albania wanted to start negotiations with the EU after having been candidate countries since 2005 and 2014. But the enlargement plans seemed…
Mark Leonard speaks with Vessela Tcherneva and Robert Cooper about the contested result and how it might be solved. Bookshelf: Carnegie report on…
Conférence publique avec Hashim Thaci, Président de la République du Kosovo, modérée par Sylvie Kauffmann, Directrice éditoriale au Monde. …
Mark Leonard talks with the director of ECFR's office in Sofia, Vessela Tcherneva and the director of ECFR's Wider Europe programme, Fredrik Wesslau about the…
Francisco de Borja Lasheras, director de la oficina de ECFR Madrid, entrevista a Andreja Stojkovski, presidente del Macedonian Centre for European Traininng, en Skopje, Macedonia
What does the ICTY’s track record suggest about the future direction and potential of the International Criminal Court? On the panel discussing are Julian…
Francisco de Borja Lasheras participó el pasado 26 de febrero en la Conferencia Internacional “Civil Society and Beyond: A Joint Dialogue on the European Path”…
In the second of two podcasts, Spiros Economides of the London School of Economics argues that the EU needs to think strategically about how…
Nick Witney, co-author of the ECFR publication 'Rebooting EU foreign policy', explains the need for a rethink of how the EU deals with the…
Софийският офис на Европейския съвет за външна политика има удоволствието да Ви покани на представянето на новия доклад на Владимир Шопов, „Да разцъфтят хиляди…
This high-level event will discuss ideas and recommendations that ECFR policy fellows Nicu Popescu and Gustav Gressel make in their 2020 policy brief on the security compact, and to extend these ideas to the Western Balkans
The virtual roundtable, “China in Europe’s periphery. How China became a power in the Western Balkans”, will bring a small group of experts, officials, NGO and media representatives together in a discussion on China’s embedding in the region.
This two-day conference marking the 25th anniversary of the Dayton Peace Agreement gathered a distinguished line-up of speakers to discuss the challenges facing the country and to explore options for transatlantic cooperation in the Western Balkans
The impact of geopolitical investments in the Balkans The Think Tank and Civil Society Forum will be live streamed on ECFR’s YouTube channel from Sofia
debate with Albin Kurti, former Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo
What's next next in EU-Western Balkans relations?
Workshop Understanding the role of third actors & looking for solutions to tackle the brain drain
Black Coffee Morning in cooperation with Georgia's Reforms Associates (GRASS).
There are politicians in the Republic of North Macedonia who are holding themselves above water, blaming Bulgaria for their hardships due to the veto imposed by us on the negotiations with the EU
Looking at the discussion on enlargement, I think it is much less about the acquis communautaire or about how the EU wants to see itself in five or ten years
Vessela Tcherneva talks about the European perspective of the Western Balkans in the current circumstances and the main challenges on their path towards the EU
Engjellushe Morina discusses both the consequences of the energy crisis that is looming this winter and the possibility of European enlargement to the east
This ability mostly rests on the fact that its goals overlap with those of its proxies in Bosnia
If the European Union wants to live up to its ambitions in its immediate vicinity, it should invest in the enlargement process rather than create new formats for summit meetings
