Western Balkans Democracy and Prosperity Act: New platform for American influence in the Western Balkans?

On 2 August 2022, a group of US Senators introduced a new bipartisan legislation in order to improve cooperation between the United States and six Western Balkans countries, a bill named Western Balkans Democracy and Prosperity Act. The idea behind the proposed legislation is to support economic development in the region through initiatives on infrastructure, […]

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A Missed Opportunity!

This piece was originally published on BiEPAG blog    Never has Montenegro had a better chance to make decisive progress on its EU path. In early 2022, all the stars aligned: a nominally reformist government, a broad pro-EU consensus among citizens, and – with war raging in Ukraine – goodwill from the international community to show […]

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Serbia 2022: Quo Vadis?

This piece was originally published on BiEPAG blog    The European Commission’s (EC) 2022 Country Report on Serbia (Report) provides an objective state of affairs of the country that began EU accession negotiations eight years ago. Unfortunately, especially for the citizens of Serbia, this picture shows the confusion, indecisiveness, uncertainty and lack of willingness of […]

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The enlargement package 2022 – Another Groundhog Day

This piece was originally published on a BiEPAG blog    The publication of the European Commission’s annual enlargement packages used to be a big deal. The Communication itself and, even more, individual country reports were eagerly awaited as an indicator of governments’ political and policy direction and their achievements. The pressure to have the reports translated as swiftly as possible was intense, as they were […]

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Kosovo Country Report: Good, but not good enough!

This piece was originally published on BiEPAG blog    The publication of the Country Report 2022 for Kosovo has received a rather lukewarm response. Coinciding with the European Council working group meeting on October 13 with visa liberalization for Kosovo included on the agenda, the country report has been completely eclipsed by the visa liberalization […]

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