Western Balkans

The Kosovo war 25 years ago serves as a reminder that frozen conflicts and bilateral disputes cannot be swept under the rug for long. In the current geopolitical environment, they will blow up in Europe’s face.

Corrupt politicians have been systematically plundering public budgets and natural resources in the Western Balkans for years. Increasingly, international actors are also discovering an El Dorado for dubious investments in these countries.

Enlargement regained prominence of the European Union agenda after Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. However, the window of opportunity for moving forward will not stay open forever.

Severe heatwaves are not the only factor boiling up the atmosphere in Serbia this summer. Tens of thousands of people have been taking to the streets in a wave of protests for 12 consecutive weeks. The scale of these protests, erupting in Belgrade and spreading across almost 40 Serbian cities and towns, is the most massive wave over the last 20 years. One cannot help but wonder if the boiling tension on the streets amidst a volatile environment is a prelude to a supercell democratic storm determined to drive social change.

The app"Aktiv1st" tracks the social media activity of Socialist Party members and supporters, rewarding them with points for all their likes and shares, and ranking them in a list to foster peer-to-peer competition.

For many years, Western players have been going all out to placate the populistic-nationalist players and their destructive ideologies: yet their questionable methods of appeasement and undemocratic interventions have ended up bolstering the very powers that have come to pose a threat to peace. The way for new excesses of violence has been paved. By supporting firebrands, Russia has been able to expand its influence further – this is the Kremlin’s second front for the destabilisation of Europe.

The EuroPride 2022 fiasco shows us one thing: Serbia will not become part of the EU under President Aleksandar Vučić. The EU must face the cultural war in the Western Balkans head on, tackle disinformation and take Serbia’s EU accession seriously.

The EU–Western Balkans Leaders' Meeting concluded more as a win for Putin and his allies than for progressive forces in the Western Balkans. The European Council did not meet the challenge of the moment, writes Simon Ilse.