Belarus’s brutal politics
What kind of implications do the developments in Belarus have for the wider neighbourhood and Europe?
Experts & Staff
Vessela Tcherneva
Deputy Director
Head, ECFR Sofia
Areas of expertise
EU foreign policy; Western Balkans and Black Sea regions; transatlantic relations; regional studies; energy
Languages
Bulgarian, English, German, Russian
Biography
Vessela Tcherneva is the deputy director of the European Council on Foreign Relations and head of the Sofia office. Her topics of focus include EU foreign policy and the Western Balkans and Black Sea region.
From 2010 to 2013, Tcherneva was the spokesperson for the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a member of the political cabinet of Foreign Minister Nickolay Mladenov. Previously, she was secretary of the International Commission on the Balkans, chaired by former Italian Prime Minister Giuliano Amato and former German President Richard von Weizsäcker; the supervising editor of the Foreign Policy Bulgaria magazine; and political officer at the Bulgarian Embassy in Washington, DC. Tcherneva holds an MA in Political Science from the Rhienische Friedrich-Wilhelm Universität in Bonn.
The end of tit-for-tat politics in Bulgaria
In an environment in which European and American interests are not always the same, it is short-sighted and dangerous for Bulgarian leaders to question their country’s geopolitical alignment
How Biden can make a big difference in the Western Balkans
Joe Biden has a longstanding relationship with the Western Balkans. A re-energised US policy on the region could be transformative, especially when working in tandem with the EU
NATO in a multipolar world
The European Council on Foreign Relations is delighted to invite you to a discussion on the role of the NATO in a world of revived geopolitical competition with a focus on the potential of the transatlantic alliance
How to advance a European solution to Bulgaria’s and North Macedonia’s dispute
North Macedonia was on a seemingly good track towards EU accession, until Bulgaria's objection in November. But it is not too late to break the deadlock
Europe’s role in America’s election
How will and can Europeans react in the event of a post-election chaos in the US? The election day is fast approaching yet the outcome still…
The Biden effect and the future of US-Europe relations | Part II
After last week’s discussion with Matt Duss and Jeremy Shapiro, Mark Leonard follows up by gathering the European views on a possible Biden win and…
Health sovereignty: How to build a resilient European response to pandemics
Europe must improve its early warning systems, supply chain resilience, medical R&D, and cyber security and technology, to act decisively in future emergencies
Together in trauma: Europeans and the world after covid-19
A new survey shows that, after the onset of the covid-19 crisis, there has been a rise in public support for unified EU action to tackle global threats
Publications
Health sovereignty: How to build a resilient European response to pandemics
Europe must improve its early warning systems, supply chain resilience, medical R&D, and cyber security and technology, to act decisively in future emergencies
Together in trauma: Europeans and the world after covid-19
A new survey shows that, after the onset of the covid-19 crisis, there has been a rise in public support for unified EU action to tackle global threats
Absorb and conquer: An EU approach to Russian and Chinese integration in Eurasia
Europe shouldn’t be afraid of Russian and Chinese efforts to integrate the Eurasian landmass, but should absorb them into its international order
Return to instability: How migration and great power politics threaten the Western Balkans
EU’s weakness is prompting a new scramble for power for the Balkans with Russia, Turkey and other actors
European Foreign Policy Scorecard 2016
The sixth ECFR Foreign Policy Scorecard highlights the EU's diminishing ability to influence its neighbours, and the neighbourhood's growing impact on the EU
Rebooting EU Foreign Policy
The EU is ill-equipped to respond to foreign policy crises
Articles
The end of tit-for-tat politics in Bulgaria
In an environment in which European and American interests are not always the same, it is short-sighted and dangerous for Bulgarian leaders to question their country’s geopolitical alignment
How Biden can make a big difference in the Western Balkans
Joe Biden has a longstanding relationship with the Western Balkans. A re-energised US policy on the region could be transformative, especially when working in tandem with the EU
How to advance a European solution to Bulgaria’s and North Macedonia’s dispute
North Macedonia was on a seemingly good track towards EU accession, until Bulgaria's objection in November. But it is not too late to break the deadlock
Hashim Thaci should resign
The indictment for war crimes against Kosovo President Hassim Thaci helpfully upends the poorly conceived US initiative to reconcile Serbia and Kosovo. But it fatally delegitimates Kosovo’s current leadership.
A burning issue: How to restart the dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo
It is the EU’s responsibility to normalise relations between Kosovo and Serbia in the long term. Therefore, the bloc should set the principles of, and drive, the dialogue between the countries.
Bouncing back again: How past crises can help Eastern Europe fight covid-19
Common standards of health security, tech and information sharing in research and development, and better integration within healthcare supply chains could help Europe take a big step forward
French connections: How to revitalise the EU enlargement process
The new French EU enlargement reform proposal is a reasonable attempt to overcome the debate about Macron’s recent veto.
After the French veto: The new scramble for the Western Balkans
Without a credible path to EU membership, the Western Balkans could easily succumb to the lure of regional nationalism – and to generous Russian, Turkish, and Chinese offers in the EU’s own back yard
Borrell will face centrifugal forces in the Balkans
The future high representative recognises the scale of the geopolitical challenge in the Balkans. But it won’t be up to him alone to meet this challenge.
Europe’s new agenda in the Western Balkans
The main message for the Western Balkans is clear: countries in the region need to demonstrate a sufficient level of political governance before any technical process of EU accession can begin
Video
The British problem – View from the Capitals
The heads of five of our national offices explain their national perspectives on a possible Brexit
Podcasts
Belarus’s brutal politics
What kind of implications do the developments in Belarus have for the wider neighbourhood and Europe?
Europe’s role in America’s election
How will and can Europeans react in the event of a post-election chaos in the US? The election day is fast approaching yet the outcome still…
The Biden effect and the future of US-Europe relations | Part II
After last week’s discussion with Matt Duss and Jeremy Shapiro, Mark Leonard follows up by gathering the European views on a possible Biden win and…
The first beneficiaries of 1989
Host Mark Leonard has an intimate discussion with our heads of offices from Sofia and Warsaw, Vessela Tcherneva and Piotr Buras about their experiences, hopes…
How to deal with our Western Balkan neighbours?
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…
Macedonian referendum: What happens next?
Mark Leonard speaks with Vessela Tcherneva and Robert Cooper about the contested result and how it might be solved. Bookshelf: Carnegie report on…
Macron: one year on
Mark Leonard speaks with Manuel Lafont Rapnouil, Almut Möller and Vessela Tcherneva, about what has changed in French foreign policy with Macron one year in…
European Reactions to Macron’s Victory
This week, rather than putting out our ordinary podcast, we're leaving the floor to Manuel Lafont Rapnouil, head of ECFR Paris, who's hosting a discussion…
Views from the Capitals on the French election
Nouveau podcast de notre série sur l'élection présidentielle de 2017 ayant pour objectif de traiter les thèmes d'actualité et de contribuer au débat…
New chaos in the Balkans: what role left for the EU?
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…
In the media
Vessela Tcherneva on Navalny, the sanctions against Russia and Russian military activity in Ukraine.
Vessela Tcherneva is quoted in Courrier International in an article on the legislatives elections in Bulgaria.
Vessela Tcherneva on the 2021 Bulgarian parliamentary elections
Vessela Tcherneva on Covid in Bulgaria, the Conference on the Future of Europe, the European future of the Western Balkans and the new administration in Washington.
Vessela Cherneva on the goals of the Conference on the Future of Europe and attitudes towards European integration.