IDM Blog

Western Balkans’ Euro-Atlantic perspective revived *This blog was originally published on ResPublica on 3 April 2020. Authors: Alfonc Rakaj & Leonie Vrugtman Western Balkan’s European integration perspective was severely challenged at the end of last year, when the European Council was unable to open negotiation talks with Albania and North …

The new accession methodology – A peace agreement between EC and Member States? There were a time in western Balkan (WB) countries, maybe some fifteen years ago, when local politicians, media and civil society were carefully reading the European Commission’s (EC) progress reports. It was a time in which the …

Media capture: The defamation package violates human rights and the constitution   “We have the natural right to use our pens and tongues at our own risk and sacrifice.” ‘Freedom of press’ in the Philosophical Dictionary (1764) Author: Rovena Sulstarova The proposed package of amendments to the media legislation has …

Rule of law is not a panacea: Resolving post-war inter-ethnic conflicts is central to Western Balkans stability and cooperation *This article was originally published in Finnish in the fall 2019 edition of foreign affairs magazine Ulkopolitiikka.   Author: Alban Dafa The October 2019 ‘non-decision’ of the European Council on opening accession …

A reflection on the rural exodus in Albania *This article was originally published in German in Info Europa Magazine (Institute of the Danube Region and Central Europe) on 26 November 2019. Info Europa is distributed as a supplement of the Austrian newspaper “Die Presse”, reaching a broad audience. The November 2019 thematic issue deals …

European governments: repatriate your citizens from northern Syria *This is an updated version of the blog that was originally published by ResPublica  on 25 October 2019. Author: Leonie Vrugtman On October 6, 2019, the White House announced that it would pull back its troops from Northern Syria in order for Turkey to …

Europeanization blowback: the stampede to join the EU and the Albanian institutional crisis  Author: Alban Dafa Shuttle lobbying June 2019 – The warm Albanian winds of early June seem to have pushed both the Albanian government and the opposition towards the cooling winds of Berlin and The Hague. They have been on …

Not a good start for “good luck” platform Author: Rovena Sulstarova The students’ protests of last December brought significant attention to some of the pressing issues with Albania’s education system, effectively putting concerns over the quality of higher education and employment prospects of recent graduates on the political agenda. The …

Enhancing the security of future EU gas supplies through the Albanian gateway Author: Alban Dafa March 2019 – The Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project is set to bring natural gas supplies from the Caspian Shah Deniz II field to Western Europe in 2020. The project, which is part of the Southern …

Oops… EU did it again Author: Gjergji Vurmo Civil society activists and the general public in the western Balkans (WB) have voiced their discontent regarding the rise of authoritarianism and state capture in the recent years. However, the European Union (EU), which plays an important role in the region, has …