Publications

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.

Politics around Europe are becoming one-men (rarely women) shows. From the likes of Orban and Janša to Vučić and Đukanović – the political influence seems to be vested deeply in the capacities and wills of an individual. Trends like personalization are addressed as attributes to politics and rarely as stand-alone phenomena. Personalization of politics is one of those phenomena that are an increasing attribute to political parties and politics worldwide. Still, at the same time, it is profoundly affecting the very idea of balance of power and endangering democratic concepts.

Third edition of Political Trends and Dynamics and the last one in 2021 offers insights on diplomacy in Southeast Europe – one of the critical tools in state arsenal for navigating through the international arena, for better or for worse. In this edition, we consulted former foreign ministers and diplomats to assess the battles won and ongoing when it comes to practices of diplomacy in the region, with a particular focus on the Western Balkans, three decades after the dissolution of Yugoslavia and in the face of reemerging security crises.

Nine countries, one region: a first-of-its-kind political economy study on the barriers to an environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable energy transition in SEE and how to overcome them. The study offers understanding of the interplay of private and public interest in energy, and highlights the lack of political courage to tackle mine closure and just transition. Focusing on transposing and implementing EU rules affecting the energy sector, the authors give dommendable actions for a bottom-up and top-down approach, strengthening the overall rule of law and benefiting from the regional synergies and cooperation.

Second edition of Political Trends and Dynamics for 2021 focuses on security politics in the Western Balkans, against the backdrop of arms trafficking and recent security developments. Two decades after the wars of the 1990s, there seem to be two distinct, and paradoxical trends, circulating the region.

On the one hand, security concerns are still regularly permeating the political discourse, stoked by increased violence, following Russia´s invasion of Ukraine, as well as nationalist movements and the criminal underground. From auxiliary police forces to massive increase in sizes of regular armed forces and their arsenals, the Western Balkans are arguably undergoing an arms race. On the other, despite the legacies of the conflicts, or…

The energy transition in North Macedonia must inevitably follow the path of the EU’s Clean Energy for all Europeans package.On this path, it is our responsibility to respect the techno-economic specificities of existing energy systems and to achieve a transition that ultimately benefits society.