Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group (BiEPAG)

🔔BiEPAG blog
✍️Egzona Bokshi

🔷You’re Not a Citizen, You’re a Journalist” - The Fall of #MediaFreedom in Kosovo

"In a healthy system, journalism is a profession, not an act of heroism. When courage replaces normalcy, you know the system has failed."

#Kosovo #Media

biepag.eu/blog/youre-n...

🔔Our BiEPAG to the point is out!

🔹Reflections on the local elections in North Macedonia

🔶The biggest losers are the citizens - Low turnout (46%) reflects deep voter apathy and disillusionment.

Read the one-pager to get the whole picture👇

#Elections #NorthMacedonia

www.biepag.eu/biepag-to-th...

📰BiEPAG member Donika Emini in an interview for the @newunionpost.bsky.social

🔸Kosovo’s recognition and candidate status have been set back years by outstanding EU measures

#Kosovo #EU
#EUAccession
#EUEnlargement

Read it at👇

Bieber: Student list in Serbia is an extraordinary experiment in democracy - European Western Balkans We spoke about the parallels with 2000 and the perspective of democratic changes in Serbia today with Florian Bieber.

Read it in English👇

europeanwesternbalkans.com/2025/10/17/b...

Biber: Studentska lista je izuzetan demokratski eksperiment - Savremena politika Studentski pokret ne može ponuditi sveobuhvatnu političku alternativu, ali to ni nije potrebno. Ovo je borba koja ima za cilj da uspostavi osnovne uslove za politiku.

🔔BiEPAG Coordinator @fbieber.bsky.social for
savremenapolitika.com

🔹Student list in Serbia is an extraordinary experiment in democracy

"The student movement does not offer a comprehensive political alternative, but return of politics to the public space."

savremenapolitika.com/biber-studen...

Who's afraid of Montenegro in the EU? Montenegro seems to be caught in a kind of European delirium - ask the prime minister, a taxi driver, or even a five-year-old in the street, and they will tell you without hesitation that we are defin...

Waarom Westelijke Balkanlanden de EU-toetreding van #Montenegro niet moeten vrezen maar steunen

europeanwesternbalkans.com/2025/10/13/w...
by @jomarovic.bsky.social in @biepag.bsky.social (republished on the European Western Balkans portal)

🔔BiEPAG blog
by @jomarovic.bsky.social

🔹In Search of Lost Regional Solidarity - or, Who’s Afraid of Montenegro in the EU?

"Montenegro’s progress is not a threat to its neighbors;
it's a test of whether the idea of a common EU future for the Western Balkans still holds".

🔗 tinyurl.com/488wnvwu

In Kosovo’s Elections, Serb Representation Is the West’s Fig Leaf Left without a functioning Assembly since February 2025, Kosovo’s febrile politics is due for another test. With options for representation of the Serb minority limited to Belgrade-backed proxies, Oct...

🔔Our BiEPAG member Donika Emini and her colleague Iliriana Gjoni with a commentary for
@carnegieeurope.bsky.social

🔹In Kosovo’s Elections, Serb Representation Is the West’s Fig Leaf

#Kosovo #KosovoElections
#BrusselsAgreement #EU
#WesternBalkans #Serbia

🔗 tinyurl.com/auduybpu

Bieber: Montenegro could benefit the most from possible fall of Vucic's regime Montenegro is the country that could benefit the most from the possible fall of Aleksandar Vucic's regime in Serbia, said Florian Bieber, a professor at the Uni

Read it in English👇

#Montenegro
#EUEnlargement
#WesternBalkans

tinyurl.com/yc4vbxet

INTERVJU Biber za "Vijesti": Ako "padne" Vučić, Crna Gora će najviše profitirati Ako bi Crna Gora ušla u EU, koja poruka bi time bila poslata Srbiji: da je razlog zašto ona nije ušla - sadašnja vlast. To nije poželjno za Vučića, i on će raditi ...

🔈BiEPAG in the Media 📰

@fbieber.bsky.social in an interview for
@vijesti.bsky.social

"Relations in the Balkans have become "quite harsh and difficult. Serbian President Vucic is not the only one to blame for this, but that he is the main cause of it.

#Montenegro #EU

tinyurl.com/4ajcn2v6

Read the full report 👇
tinyurl.com/4hxdtawh

#EUIntegration
#Montenegro
#WesternBalkans
#EU #EUEnlargement
#EUCommission

@jomarovic.bsky.social @fbieber.bsky.social

ℹ️At our yesterday's panel at
Europe House in Podgorica, BiEPAG experts, media & diplomats agreed: now is the moment to push forward reforms in #Montenegro & seize the geopolitical chance!

🎯🔹Support is high🔹 Mistakes are costly🔹EU window of opportunity won't stay open forever

🔔Read the new BiEPAG blog👇

🔷Albania’s AI Minister Dilemma: Fighting Corruption or Strengthening Authoritarianism?

✍️ @gresahasa.bsky.social

"The appointment of #Diella was made without constitutional basis, since #Albania has no legal provisions for an AI minister"

🔗 tinyurl.com/4v6x4ycd

ℹ️More info on the panel discussion👇

www.biepag.eu/news/biepag-...

Panelists:
• Dr. Ivan Vukovic, Chair of the Committee on European Integration of the Parliament of Montenegro
• Miloš Radonjić, Advisor to the President of Montenegro for European Affairs
• Dr. @jomarovic.bsky.social
• Prof. Dr. @fbieber.bsky.social
Moderator:
Dr. Marina Vulović, BiEPAG Member

📣Join us for our upcoming BiEPAG event in Podgorica

🔹 Montenegro at the Crossroads: Driving EU Integration in the Western Balkans

📅 Thursday, 25 September 2025
⏲️ 15:00 - 16:30
📍 Europe House, Podgorica

#Montenegro
#EUAccession
#EUEnlargement
#WesternBalkans #EU

Serbia Protests: Student-led Demonstrations Aim to Unseat President Vucic More violence over the summer has shown the depth of discontentment in a country that the EU has been trying to keep onside.

My take on protests in Serbia 🇷🇸 for Bloomberg www.bloomberg.com/news/article... @biepag.bsky.social

🔔New BiEPAG blog

✍️Author: BiEPAG's Programme Manager
Samir Beharić

🔷Eleventh Stage of Genocide: Srebrenica Is Remembered Once a Year, Denial Happens Every Day

Read it at👇
tinyurl.com/49dvdr3w

#Srebrenica #Srebrenica30
#SrebrenicaGenocide
#BosniaandHerzegovina #EU

Marović: EU should commit to concluding an accession agreement with Montenegro The former Minister of European Affairs, commenting on Montenegro's results achieved this year on its European path, said that another step has been taken towards ...

Read it in English👇
en.vijesti.me/news-b/polit...

🔊BiEPAG in the Media📰

BiEPAG member @jomarovic.bsky.social
in an interview for the Montenegrin News Agency MINA

"The #EU should issue a political declaration by the end of this year committing to concluding an accession treaty with #Montenegro".

#EUIntegrations

mina.news/vijesti-iz-c...

Focus on🔎
#Albania #BosniaandHerzegovina #Kosovo
#Montenegro #NorthMacedonia #Serbia
#EU #WesternBalkans #EUAccession
#EUCommission #EUEnlargement

⬇️Download it at👇
tinyurl.com/mw4jp5t3

She also urges limiting the misuse of bilateral vetoes and empowering civil society to restore the EU’s normative power and credibility in the enlargement process.

Marović calls for providing a time-bound accession path fast-tracking for frontrunner(s) based on measurable rule of law progress, aligning EU rhetoric with reality and enforcing clear accession criteria...

Despite positive rhetoric, the EU tolerates backsliding, rewards autocrats, and applies conditionality inconsistently. This deepens public distrust and weakens reform incentives...

In this paper, BiEPAG member @jomarovic.bsky.social argues that the #EU undermines its credibility in the #WesternBalkans by prioritizing stability and strategic interests over democratic reforms...

🔔BiEPAG policy brief by @jomarovic.bsky.social

"From Norms to Noise: Why the EU Talks Reform but Fuels Decline in the Balkans" offers a timely and sharp analysis of the EU’s approach to enlargement in the Western Balkans, highlighting inconsistencies between rhetoric and practice.

#EUEnlargement

For more insights on this topic, check the BiEPAG policy brief: Mining in the Western Balkans - The Rise of Dangerous Transactionalism authored by Džihić.

🔗https://tinyurl.com/yxy6ubrx

"According to Džihić, governance failures, combined with state capture and corruption, risk turning the region into what some critics have called “Europe’s future mining colony.”

#Environment #Minning
#CriticalRawMaterials #Lithium
#EU #WesternBalkans #EUEnlargement

Protecting the environment in the Western Balkans - K2.0 Industry, resource exploitation, and construction in protected areas are threatening both public health and the environment across the region.

🔈BiEPAG in the Media📰

Our BiEPAG member @vedrandzihic.bsky.social
contributed to KOSOVO 2.0 regional overview on
"Protecting the environment in the Western Balkans"

Read the article in English, Albanian and B/C/S.
#Environment #Minning
#EU #WesternBalkans

kosovotwopointzero.com/en/protectin...

"This would not only deliver a fatal blow to the EU’s credibility among candidate countries but, amid escalating geopolitical threats, threaten the security and stability of the Union itself."