Publications

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.

2019 has seen increased development of youth policy throughout the region. In resonance with the EU Youth Strategy 2019-27, national youth strategies are currently being developed in Albania, Bosnia, and Montenegro. The FES published a series of groundbreaking studies analyzing political values, attitudes, and beliefs of youth in the region and their outlook on the future earlier this year, providing a point of departure for facts-based policy-making. This issue of the Political Trends and Dynamics in Southeast Europe aims to highlight fresh thinking on youth policy by next-generation experts and policy-makers.

Almost twenty¬five years after the end of the Cold War, initial euphoria about democratic change in many countries in the East and Southeast of Europe has given way to growing mistrust of political institutions and politicians, and an increasing disaffection with democracy itself. This wide¬ranging disaffection has many sources. One of them lies in the increasingly weak performance of governments and the fact that »democracy«, whatever the term meant at the beginning of the transition processes, has failed to deliver on its promises.

Has the European project in the Western Balkans delivered social change? Mass emigration and declining population rates, democratic backsliding, growing economic and social inequalities as well as social exclusion suggest otherwise. Correspondingly, the citizens of the region perceive that their interests and social rights have so far not been at the heart of the EU’s transition efforts.

This paper presents research on what makes an NGO legitimate in the eyes of citizens, and how legitimacy affects the outcomes they are able to achieve. It found that intermediary NGOs supported by both donors and citizens are able to achieve broader advocacy outcomes.

China has “arrived” in Southeast Europe. Beijing’s assertive new foreign policy, the hallmark of President Xi Jinping’s six year reign as the executive of the People’s Republic, has seen the country accelerate and deepen its foreign ties with states all over the world, including in Europe’s East and Southeast, at a previously unimagined pace. It is not a stretch to say that a decade ago, China was simply not a major actor – in any sector – in Southeast Europe. Today, Beijing has emerged as one of the leading economic actors in the region, investing and supporting everything from energy and infrastructure projects to arms procurement.

The research report identifies, documents and analyses patterns and characteristics of irregular migration in thirteen states along the so-called Balkan route in the period from 2011 to 2017. These states are Albania, Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Kosovo, FYR Macedonia (now North Macedonia), Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia.