IN THIS EPISODE
The green transition runs on metals, and the Western Balkans may be sitting on the most strategically important untapped opportunity on Europe’s borders. With an estimated 344 million tonnes of tailings, slags, and red mud worth upwards of $18.7 billion in critical raw materials, copper, chromium, lithium, rare earths, scandium, and more, the region is no longer a footnote in Europe’s supply chain strategy. It’s a central chapter.
In this episode of #BalkansDebrief, Resident Senior Fellow Ilva Tare brings together three leading experts to unpack what this moment really means and whether Europe is bold enough to seize it. Mining engineer and CRM consultant Kirk Adams has been on the ground at three specific sites in Albania, Kosovo, and North Macedonia. His verdict? The geology is real, the opportunity is genuine, and the Western Balkans deserve to be treated not merely as a raw materials supplier, but as a full industrial partner in Europe’s green future with processing, refining, and value-added jobs staying in the region. For countries actively pursuing EU membership, this is more than an economic opportunity. It is a chance to be written into the architecture of Europe’s industrial policy from the ground up, not handed a contract after the framework has already been designed. Vasileios Rizos from the Centre for European Policy Studies breaks down whether the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act is actually built for partnership, or simply optimized for extraction at the lowest political cost. And Daniel Pop, political economist, confronts the harder questions: Who benefits? Who carries the risk? And what has to change in the near future for this to become real projects, not just policy language? Europe knows that dependency on China is a vulnerability.
The Western Balkans know they are sitting on part of the solution. The question is whether Brussels is ready to design an integrated value chain with the region or whether the ore keeps leaving on a truck. Don’t miss this conversation. Subscribe and hit the bell so you never miss an episode of #BalkansDebrief.
ABOUT #BALKANSDEBRIEF
#BalkansDebrief is an online interview series presented by the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center and hosted by journalist Ilva Tare. The program offers a fresh look at the Western Balkans and examines the region’s people, culture, challenges, and opportunities.
Watch #BalkansDebrief on YouTube and listen to it as a Podcast.
MEET THE #BALKANSDEBRIEF HOST
The Europe Center promotes leadership, strategies, and analysis to ensure a strong, ambitious, and forward-looking transatlantic relationship.