The overall goal of this project is to devise a framework for a new, flexible strategy for an accelerated European integration of the Western Balkans based on research, analysis and interaction among leading think tank and civil society activists and policy-makers from Bulgaria and the countries of the region. Bulgaria’s accession experience should play a key a role in devising such a strategy – some aspects of Bulgaria’s integration proved not so smooth, while others proved effective, and the new framework should dwell on that.

 

 

February 7, 2012 IRIS's annual study on democracy and EU integration processes in the Western Balkans in 2010/11 is available

IRIS has completed its second annual study on developments in the Western Balkans in the areas of democracy and European integration. The study, The Western Balkans in 2010/11: Departures in Democratisation and European Integration in Europe's Southeast,comprises analysis of general trends and individual country investigations of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia and focuses on the period roughly from October 2010 to January 2012. Download the study here.

 

March 19, 2012 IRIS presents in Belgrade its latest annual study on democracy and EU integration in the Western Balkans

IRIS presented on Friday, 16 March, in Belgrade its latest annual study, The Western Balkans in 2010/11: Departures in Democratisation and European Integration in Europe’s Southeast (the study is available here). The event, hosted by the Balkan Trust for Democracy (a programme of the German Marshall Fund of the United States), included a presentation of the study’s main findings by IRIS’s Dr. Ognyan Minchev, Stefan Ralchev and Goran Stojkovski and a lively discussion involving representatives of the local policy community, government, EU ambassadors and journalists. A special guest from Washington DC was the GMF Senior Director for Foreign Policy and Civil Society S. Enders Wimbush.

 

The even opened with welcoming words by BTD’s Director Gordana Delic and introductory words on the study by IRIS’s Executive Director Dr. Ognyan Minchev. Stefan Ralchev and Goran Stojkovski then laid out the general findings for each of the countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. Two discussants representing the Belgrade think tank community, Srdjan Djurovic of the Centre for Applied European Studies and Irena Cerovic of the Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence, had the opportunity to comment on the study results. Then a Q&A session followed, with members of the audience commenting and posing questions to the presenters.

 

The event was attended by prominent representatives of Serbia’s policy community, academics, government officials and EU diplomats. The common conclusion was that the study constitutes a very compact and useful tool for gaining insight on democratic and EU integration developments in the Western Balkans over the past year or so. The discussion naturally was in the context of the transformative financial and political processes in the EU itself and the repercussions they have on the region. Some participants voiced an opinion that, despite the departures in democratisation and EU integration Southeast European societies are experiencing, we should be wary abandoning the concept of the Western Balkans at this point. Political processes in Serbia, in view of the upcoming general elections, also provoked an active debate. Some participants recommended that issues of security and the civil society’s role be further researched in future studies on the region.