Publications

When it comes to EU CFSP compliance, the percentage of Western Balkan countries' compliance with the High Representative's declarations and EU Council decisions varies, and comparative analysis shows that the level of compliance does not quite match the status of states in the EU accession process.

Greece has dealt competently with the public health risk posed by Covid-19 but faces a possibly even bigger challenge in mitigating the economic impact of the crisis. Greece had started to heal some of the wounds from its previous recession before the coronavirus struck. Now, its fragile economy is being buffeted by a new, and potentially severe, downturn. The public finances Athens has at its disposal are limited and the tools made available by the European Union only go some way towards providing solutions.

Leaders are invoking executive powers and are seizing a great deal of authority with scant resistance. We are witnessing a curtailing of civil and political rights on a massive scale, which is unprecedented in peacetime. While there was anger in the non-EU member states of the region about the EU’s restrictions on the export of medical equipment, China is using the pandemic to strengthen its ties by providing medical equipment and expertise. As the corona pandemic and responses to it in the region unfold, we will continue to monitor the development. This is the first in a series of reports which sets out to monitor effects of the corona crisis management on institutions, political and civil rights, parties, civil society, as well as…

The primary aim of this publication is to briefly discuss the current »normative marketplace« in the region. We want to draw contours of the current state of this marketplace and of those powers and actors that are challenging and endangering it. It is also our intention to engage in thinking about possible utopian horizons able to reclaim democracy, freedom, and emancipatory societal values. Of course, the »realist utopian horizon« deserved a sober acknowledgment of challenges faced by the European Union and its internal disputes, as well as the profound lack of strong socio-political forces in Southeast Europe that could be able to push for Europeanization as long desired, but never actually realized process.

Featuring voices from experts and policy-makers, this edition of Political Trends & Dynamics in Southeast Europe initially focused on analyzing the “Social Dimension of Enlargement Policy”. With the current global health emergency in full swing, it offers an even broader and useful perspective on the state of welfare in Southeast Europe and the relations among EU Members and the Non-Member States.

China’s growing presence in Southeast Europe (SEE) has not remained unnoticed and is causing an intense debate on the nature of its influence. This paper aims to answer three key questions: What shape and form does Beijing’s soft power projection take in the region? Secondly, to what extent do China’s soft power efforts help it attain its objectives in Southeast Europe? Thirdly, what else may be needed in view of future research into China’s soft power in the region?

The Social Dimension of Enlargement Policy lays out the key findings from the study Enlargement Policy and Social Change in the Western Balkans , focusing on the interaction between EU institutions and WB governments in processes of strategic social reform, mechanisms deployed by the EU in the social policy realm in the region and reforms pursued by WB governments to improve the social outcomes. Recommendations are offered on how to deepen the social dimension of accession.

The countries of the Western Balkans (WB) are facing enormous social challenges, including poverty and inequality, widespread joblessness and precarious employment, as well as a poor quality of crucial services. EU integration should not only be about institutional and economic transformation, but also social convergence. To effect social change, further paradigmatic shift is needed in enlargement policy: people need to be placed at the heart of the process. This document provides recommendations on how to achieve such a shift.