EU integrations

In November 2024, the collapse of a railway station canopy in Novi Sad killed 16 people and sparked the largest student-led protests in Serbia's modern history. Initial grief gave way to a decentralised movement that is demanding accountability, far-reaching reforms and new elections, despite brutal repression by the regime. The protests have exposed the failure of 'stabilitocracy' and brought Serbia's democratic future — and the EU's role in it — to the forefront of political debate.

As Europe seeks to redefine itself, it was Ukraine that dominated international discussions at the European Political Community (EPC) Summit—despite the fact that, for the first time, the event was hosted in Albania, a Western Balkan country. Very little was said about the region itself, and even that only on the media sidelines.

Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church Porfirije’s April 22 visit to Moscow highlights a worrying deepening of Serbia’s alignment with Russia[...]. The visit increasingly appears to have been a prelude to, or even a soft announcement of, President Vučić’s more visible alignment with Russia, which culminated in his attendance at the 9 May celebrations in Moscow. 

While Brussels may see the Jadar lithium mining project as a strategic step toward a greener future, Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vučić sees it as a tactical tool to reinforce his grip on power - just as hundreds of thousands rise to reclaim democracy.

The Western Balkans 6 Strategy Group strongly condemns the latest government-orchestrated attacks on civil society in Serbia and urges pro-democracy actors, EU institutions and political leaders to take a firm stand against this repression. 

On May 11, 2025, Albania will hold parliamentary elections, the first since officially opening EU accession negotiations. While some significant changes mark this election—most notably, diaspora voting and partial candidate list openness—major systemic factors remain unchanged. The Socialist Party (SP), in power since 2013, appears poised for an unprecedented fourth mandate.

Brussels, 21 November 2024 – “The EU integration process should not be a transactional relation between EU Member States and candidate countries, but a truly transformational path based on democratic values and human rights.” – was the main message which was conveyed by the members of the Western Balkans 6 Strategy Group during the advocacy visit with stakeholders in Brussels. 

Therefore, one of the key points of interest for the public is how much the VMRO-DPMNE party has changed in the past seven years under Mickoski’s leadership and how much it has distanced itself from the past behavior.

Vienna, 13 June 2024 - The June 2024 EU elections hold significant implications for the Western Balkans (WB), a region whose political and economic stability is closely intertwined with European integration and which requires focused attention from the EU.

Moving forward, it is imperative to strengthen mechanisms for safeguarding the rights and safety of those targeted by anti-gender mobilizations.

The process of regional and internal consolidation of Western Balkan (WB) countries remains incomplete, with the legacy of conflict still exerting significant influence. Since the beginning of Russian aggression in Ukraine in 2022, the European Union and the US have shifted their focus towards security issues. The Western Balkans exemplify how post-conflict societal transformation is as crucial as war prevention.

It took a decade for this made-up idea of “gender ideology” to gain traction, inspiring large-scale mobilizations. Only after the economic recession in the first decade of the new millennium, after the “migrant crisis” and after the rise of populist politics, the time was ripe for the idea of “gender ideology” to gain mobilizing power.

The Kosovo war of 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.

The full and strategic alignment of policies and strategies between the United States and the EU regarding the Western Balkans region needs to be prioritized in the current challenging security context. It has worked before and will work again.

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.

In response to this attack, civil society organizations, freethinking individuals, diplomatic missions, and international organizations in Montenegro and the region have expressed their solidarity and raised their voices. This case highlights the pressing need for stronger support for civil society's efforts towards EU integration, firmly anchored in progressive, green, and gender-sensitive values.

The Western Balkans 6 Strategy Group, working under the auspices of the Heinrich Boll Stiftung, assesses the Open Balkan project as an enterprise that would adversely compete with the Berlin Process and, at the same time, lead regional integration towards an unacceptable and fragmented direction.

Only when enlightened citizens realize that they have rights and that they can and must use them to change the system for the better, something will change.

The crucial novelty of the Memorandum is its clear distinction of the Joint Commission’s working concepts: it reads that the Macedonian side refuses to accept the concept of "common history" – using "shared history" instead – which in turn undermines the bilateral trust between the two states.