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This year marks the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement. Since then, a whole generational change has happened, but in terms of constitutional arrangements they have remained frozen for three decades.

2025 has seen a lot of reflections on this topic, but we are going to explore it from a different angle. Today we’re talking about what “Dayton” means for young people in the country, those who were born after the war of the 1990s ended.

Host: Damir Kapidžić, BiEPAG member

Guests:

Tahir Herenda, Teaching assistant at the Law Faculty, University of Sarajevo

Nikolina Lozo, Teaching assistant at the Law Faculty, PIM University

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During 2025, press freedom and independent journalism have come under sustained attack. The war in Ukraine, the genocide in Western Asia, and the political rise of extremist parties have all contributed to the erosion of one of the core pillars of democratic societies.

In the Balkans, governments with increasingly authoritarian tendencies have for years exerted pressure on non-aligned media, disregarding the very European standards they are expected to uphold as EU candidate states.

USAID - the U.S. agency that supported journalists and media organizations worldwide — has been shut down by President Donald Trump. Voice of America has not updated its homepage since March. Radio Free Europe faces a severe funding crisis. N1 and Nova TV continue to operate under intense political pressure. And in July, the region’s largest media outlet, Al Jazeera Balkans, abruptly closed without a clear explanation.

So, is media pluralism in the Balkans under attack? And what does escalating political pressure mean for journalists - and for the public?

Host: Giorgio Fruscione, BiEPAG member I Italian institute for international political studies

Guests:

Lejla Mazlić, Communication and Engagement Lead and former Al Jazeera Balkans 

Slobodan Georgiev, News Director at TV Nova S

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Host: Damir Kapidžić, BiEPAG member

Guests: Dženeta Karabegović, Associate Professor at the University of Salzburg, and Vedran Džihić, a member of BiEPAG

This episode reflects on developments that have been keeping Bosnia and Herzegovina on edge. In the past year, the longtime leader of Bosnian Serbs and president of the ruling SNSD party, Milorad Dodik, was sentenced by the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was sentenced to one year in prison, a sentence he commuted, removed from the office of President of Respublika Srpska, a subnational entity of BiH, and barred from holding public office for six years. He still disputes the sentence, even I though it is final. Since then, early elections were held in RS to fill his vacated, which were won by Siniša Karan, Dodik’s chosen successor. The shifting dynamics of the transatlantic alliance and general elections scheduled for October 2026 for their complicate the situation. To what all of this means and if we can expect a change in RS and for BiH?

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It’s been an eventful year in Kosovo. New general elections are a possible scenario while the country is still navigating local elections, with the first round on 12 October and the second round expected on 9 November.

In this episode, we unpack what’s at stake:

·      Can Kosovo’s institutions hold under pressure?

·      What does the return of Serbs in the four northern municipalities mean?

·      How do we move on from a year marked by political crises, and what’s at stake for the future?

Hosted by Donika Emini – BiEPAG member

🎙 Guests:

• Ilir Deda, Senior Research Fellow at KIPRED & Europe’s Futures Fellow

• Jovana Radosavljević, Executive Director of New Social Initiative

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Host: Donika Emini, BiEPAG Member

Guests:

Odeta Barbullushi, Resident Professor at the College of Europe, Tirana Campus, and BiEPAG member

Tristan Aureau, Director, Centre for Analysis, Planning and Strategy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, France.

Donika Emini, BiEPAG member and co-host of this episode, discusses the evolving role of the European Political Community, a forum born out of crisis, now standing at a critical juncture. With Albania hosting the sixth summit in Tirana, and Europe faces simultaneous security challenges from Ukraine to the Middle East, and regional frictions in the Western Balkans, the question is urgent.

Can the European Political Community help the European unity in an age of uncertainty? 

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Host: Florian Bieber, BiEPAG Coordinator

Guests: Frauke Seebass,Visiting Fellow, SWP & Associate Researcher, DGAP and Adi Ćeramagić, Senior Analyst, ESI

The new German government of Friedrich Merz announced in its coalition agreement that it would prioritize reforms over enlargement. What this means for the Western Balkans and how the new government is expected to handle the key challenges in the region, from the mass protests in Serbia to the political crisis in Bosnia is the topic of Seriously Balkans. 

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Host: Damir Kapidžić, member of BiEPAG

Guests: Donika Emini, member of BiEPAG and Gëzim Krasniqi, Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh

On February 9th, 2025, Kosovo held Parliamentary elections, the first after a full government term since independence. Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s party, which previously won a landslide victory, secured around 40% of the vote this time, making a coalition government likely. Kurti’s tenure has been marked by tense relations with Belgrade, as well as a complicated dynamic with the EU and the US.

What can we expect from a possible second term for Kurti, and how will the rise of a new, more aggressive US foreign policy under President Trump impact its relation towards Kosovo and the Western Balkans? What is the role of the EU and will it be able to step up its commitment towards Kosovo? To unpack the election results and their broader implications, we are joined by Gëzim Krasniqi, Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, and Donika Emini, a member of BiEPAG. Tune in for a deep dive into Kosovo’s evolving political landscape.

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Host: Florian Bieber, BiEPAG Coordinator

Guests: Danica (anonymous based on the request of the student plenum), Faculty of Chemistry, University of Belgrade

Student (anonymous based on the request of the student plenum), Philosophical Faculty, University of Belgrade

We want to change the country, so we don’t have to leave the country, is a central theme of the thousands of students and other citizens filling the streets of Serbia. In the largest protests in Serbia and the entire region for decades, students, joined by other citizens, have been on the street for three months. In addition to commemorating the 15 victims of the collapse of the canopy at the Novi Sad train station, they demand that the institutions investigate the causes of the accident and publish the details that led to it. Beyond that, the protests have become a rallying point for demands for the rule of law and democracy. Florian Bieber discusses the demands, the protests themselves and the atmosphere with two student representatives from the University of Belgrade. 

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Croatia’s Role in the Region: Continuity or Change?

Host: Tena Prelec, BiEPAG Member

Guests: First part: Oliver Kannenberg (Research associate at IParl, Berlin) and Željko Poljak (PhD researcher and a member of the M²P, University of Antwerp)

Second part: Damir Kapidžić and Jovana Marović, BiEPAG Members

Croatia often distances itself from the Western Balkans label, yet its political weight in the region is undeniable. In this episode, we unpack the country’s domestic political landscape post-presidential elections and its role in shaping key regional developments—from Bosnia and Herzegovina’s electoral reform to Montenegro’s EU accession process. Is Croatia a stabilising force, a destructive influence, a self-interested actor, or something else entirely?

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How do geopolitical interests impact democracy in the Balkans?

Discussing how geopolitical interest shape the democracy in the Balkans, specifically the role of economic and informal political linkages of the countries of the region and EU, but also Russia and China.

Host: Damir Kapidžić

Guests: Milica Uvalić (Visiting Fellow at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies RSC at the European University Institute EUI in Florence Italy) and Alexander Mesarovich (Max Weber Fellow, European University Institute).

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Host: Damir Kapidžić, BiEPAG Member

Guests: Dušan Reljić, Independent consultant and former Head of Brussels office for SWP and Corina Stratulat, BiEPAG Member and Associate Director and Head of the European Politics and Institutions Programme at the European Policy Centre, Brussels.

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BiEPAG's Member Tena Prelec discusses the topic from different aspects with two experts that have followed the situation on the ground - Tamara Branković, Deputy Programme Director at the Serbian NGO CRTA and Aleksandar Ivković, Journalist at European Western Balkans and Serbia Elects project.

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BiEPAG's Coordinator Florian Bieber is hosting the discussion on the recent presidential and parliamentary elections North Macedonia with Simonida Kacarska,Director of the European Policy Institute (EPI) - Skopje / Member of the EFB Steering Committee and Lura Pollozhani, Researcher at the University of Graz / BiEPAG Member.

Listen to their analysis of the results and the prospects for the future developments and power games.

#izboriMK #избори2024 #elections2024

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The results of the Serbian parliamentary, local, and provincial elections

Host: Florian Bieber

Guests: Tara Tepavac, Researcher at Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory at the University of Belgrade, and Nikola Burazer, Programme Director at Centre for Contemporary Politics and Executive Editor at European Western Balkans

Focus on the BiEPAG policy brief Beyond Stabilitocracy. Unveiling the Rise of Autocracy in the Western Balkans

with Damir Kapidzic, Marika Djolai and Marko Kmezic, BiEPAG Members and authors of the brief

Check the brief at the following link.

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Every winter the same? Air pollution in the cities of the Western Balkans

Host: Florian Bieber

Guests: Gorjan Jovanovski, EarthCare.ai - North Macedonia and Denis Žiško, Aarhus Centre - BiH

Every winter we have the same picture – heating, traffic, heavy industry and coal fueled power plants are having harmful effects and causing increased air pollution, which is directly connected with many diseases, health problems and a reason for thousands of premature deaths. The winter season across the Western Balkans is all about the bad air quality and listing the capitals of the region among the most polluted cities in the world.

Green Transition in the Western Balkans and the Role of External Actors

Host: Tena Prelec

Guests: BiEPAG Members Dimitar Bechev, Nikos Tzifakis, Marika Djolai, Donika Emini and Vujo Ilic.

The Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group conducted a comprehensive study on the geopolitics of the green energy transition in the Western Balkans. The study is based on desk research, several detailed case studies and an opinion poll conducted between March and April 2023 in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. BiEPAG Members and experts that were involved in this research project are discussing the main findings on the Green Energy Transition in the Western Balkans and the role of external actors.

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Ukrainian Perspectives on the Enlargement and Synergies with the Western Balkans

Host: Florian Bieber

Guests: Ivan Nagornyak, Deputy Director of the Government Office for Coordination on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration

Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine at the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine

Maria Mezentseva, Deputy Chairperson of the Committee on Ukraine's Integration into the European Union, Parliament of Ukraine

What does the War in Ukraine means for the Western Balkans?

Host: Damir Kapidžić

Guests: Jelena Džankić, Co-Director of the Global Citizenship Observatory and SEE Director for the Robert Schuman Centre’s Global Governance Programme 

Veronika Anghel, Visiting Fellow at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, Adjunct Professor at Johns Hopkins University – School of Advanced International Studies 

(Check the publication https://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/75524 A Year Later: War in Ukraine and Western Balkan (Geo)Politics. Edited by Jelena Džankić, Simonida Kacarska, and Soeren Keil; published by the European University Institute in 2023).

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Part 1

The position of Serbs in Northern Kosovo in the light of tensions between Serbia and Kosovo

Guests: Marina Vulović (SWP) and Milica Andrić Rakić (New Social Initiative)

Part 2

20 years since the Thessaloniki promise

Guests: Nikola Dimitrov and Milica Delević 

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The second episode looks into two very sensitive topics, but also important ones. The first segment tackles the mass shootings in Serbia, and the social and political implications of this events. 

In continuation the discussion is related to the recent works that look into the issue of foreign fighters going to Ukraine.

🔹The Mass Shootings in Serbia

Hosts: Tena Prelec and Damir Kapidžić

Guests: 

Srđan Cvijić, BiEPAG Member and President of the International Advisory Committee of BCSP 

Ilija Vojnović, Programme Director, International Republican Institute's (IRI)

🔹Foreign Fighters in Ukraine and the legacy of ISIS

Host: Florian Bieber 

Guests: 

Asya Metodieva, Researcher at the Institute of International Relations in Prague, Czech Republic

Kacper Edward Rekawek, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Research on Extremism (C-REX) at the University of Oslo 

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🔎Part 1

BiEPAG's Coordinator Florian Bieber is leading the discussing on the aftermath of the recent elections in Montenegro and the end of the Đukanović Era with his guests Ana Nenezić, Executive Director of CeMI, Montenegro and Bojan Baca, BiPEAG Member and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow, Department of Sociology and Work Science, University of Gothenburg.

What are the prospects for the newly elected president in the light of the change of power with the long-term strongman Đukanović, what does it mean for the highly polarized landscape of Montenegrin politics and what can be expected in the light of the upcoming parliamentary elections.

🔎Part 2

Tena Prelec and her fellow BiEPAG Members Jovana Marovic (Former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of European Affairs in Government of Montenegro) and Richard Grieveson (Deputy Director of the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies) are looking at the thicket of the different economic integration projects in the region, with a special focus on the Open Balkan and the recent BiEPAG policy brief "Through the Labyrinth of Regional Cooperation: How to Make Sense of Regional Integration in the Western Balkans".

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