Last week, SIPRI hosted a panel discussion on the political developments and security dynamics in the region, featuring experts from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Serbia. The event provided an opportunity to interact with journalists and civil society representatives from across the Western Balkans, who visited SIPRI as part of a project funded by the Swedish Institute.
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine reinvigorated the European Union (EU) enlargement process and highlighted the importance of the process for peace and security in Europe. While the Western Balkans remains formally on the path to EU integration, it has faced setbacks and challenges, including democratic backsliding, corruption, a shrinking space for civil society and media freedom, and ethnonationalist politics.
The unpredictable engagement of the United States in the region and the global crisis of multilateralism, which underpinned conflict resolution after the wars of the 1990s, will put more responsibility on the EU to deal with these challenges. However, the current focus on the war in Ukraine mayfind the EU and its member states unprepared for future developments in the Western Balkans.
Speakers
Dean Džebić, Defence Reporter, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Serbeze Haxhiaj, Journalist, Kosovo
Ivana Ranković, Researcher, Belgrade Centre for Security Policy, Serbia
Please register your attendance here.
For questions, please contact SIPRI events at events@sipri.org.