Publications

The launch of the European Political Community (EPC) has taken the Western Balkans aback. Yet the need for political engagement on strategic issues that are not limited to EU accession is more pressing than ever. Overly marketed, the EPC risks propagating delusive expectations among would-be Member states. Before the next meeting takes place in Chisinau, the Western Balkans need to gain clarity on the EPC's purpose, design and functioning, as well as the role the EU is to play therein. Rather than turning into one more big forum dedicated to intergovernmental cooperation, the EPC could become a political framework in which alliances are being forged across continental Europe by progressive governments seeking to bolster European…

In around 30 years, formerly communist Central and Southeastern Europe have lost millions of people, probably unseen in peacetime. The Western Balkans lost 1.3% of their population in 2018 alone. Planning adequate social policies in response to demographic trends has been part and parcel of modern Western policymaking. Yet, for decades demographic issues have not been given much attention. Demography is central not only to contemporary policymaking but also to understanding modern socio-political malaise in European societies. The answers are not straightforward, and solving the policy riddle of economic and democratic implications of population change may push European societies to test the limits of their declarative commitment to liberal…

EU citizens and Third Country Nationals are formally in very different situations when it comes to their mobility and rights in the European Union. However, this binary picture looks much more blurred when workers from Southeast Europe are in focus. The report pays particular attention to the situation of mobile workers from a region in Germany, given its economic size and recent visa liberalization, and also brings in examples and considerations from throughout the EU.

Consequences of the war in Ukraine are felt well beyond its borders, and the circumstances have already caused unprecedented shifts in foreign policy across the continent. This issue of Political Trends and Dynamics in Southeast Europe focuses on the immediate implications of the war in Ukraine on the region's security.

We first explore how regional ties to Russia and Russian influence affect political stability in Southeast Europe. Our contributors also look at the future of regional security in the context of Europe’s geopolitical shift and whether a new sense of urgency could be beneficial for regional stability in the long run. Finally, this issue explores the effect of the war on the Euro-Atlantic paths of Western Balkan countries…

In the context of the Conference, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Dialogue Southeast Europe and the Austro-French Center for Rapprochement in Europe launched Western Balkans Perspectives on the Future of Europe in 2020. The outcome of the initiative is this Manifesto. This Manifesto draws the contours of a vision from the Western Balkans for the future of Europe. It is backed by two years of discussion work with citizens from the Western Balkans, with deliberations steered by a group of 12 experts from the region and the participation of a broad spectrum of civil society representatives.

Inclusive energy transition includes the concept of just transition but also goes beyond it, encompassing the energy democracy and the involvement of the public. Just transition planning must be carried out from the bottom up, led by the affected communities themselves and supported by the central government, not the other way round. The EU needs to create a Just Transition Fund for the Western Balkans under which funds would be subject to strict conditions on public participation and fossil fuel phase-out.