Explore the #BalkansDebrief Series

Program

The Europe Center promotes the transatlantic leadership and strategies required to ensure a strong Europe.

Content

Balkans Debrief

Jun 29, 2026

How can gradual EU integration work in the Balkans? A Debrief with Odeta Barbullushi & Adi Cerimagic

Europe Center Resident Senior Fellow Ilva Tare sits down with Adi Cerimagic of the European Stability Initiative and Odeta Barbullushi from the College of Europe to discuss the new Franco-German non-paper on gradual EU accession for the Western Balkans.

Europe & Eurasia European Union

Dispatches

Jun 24, 2026

Dispatch from Tivat: What Montenegro still needs to do to join the European Union

By Amanda Thorpe, Stuart Jones

A recent visit to the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Montenegro reveals a country closer than ever to EU membership—if it can get across the line.

Economy & Business European Union

Balkans Debrief

Jun 12, 2026

Unpacking the new US Western Balkans strategy | A Debrief with Fleck, Piscevic, Zeneli & Thorpe

Resident Senior Fellow Ilva Tare sits down with four Atlantic Council experts to discuss the new US report to Congress on policy toward the Western Balkans.

Economy & Business Europe & Eurasia

Dispatches

Jun 10, 2026

How energy could redefine the US role in the Western Balkans

By Agon Maliqi

A new report from the Trump administration redefines the US goal as effectively being “stability … as a means of pursuing economic cooperation.”

Economy & Business Energy & Environment

Dispatches

Jun 5, 2026

A deeper look at Trump’s new policy toward the Western Balkans 

By Atlantic Council experts

Atlantic Council experts examine the recently released, congressionally mandated report on US policy toward the Western Balkans.

Politics & Diplomacy The Balkans

Dispatches

May 21, 2026

Montenegro at twenty: What kind of state will it become?

By Ratko M. Knežević

Even as Montenegrins mark today’s anniversary, the true meaning of independence must be something far more ambitious.

European Union Politics & Diplomacy

UkraineAlert

May 14, 2026

Bulgaria is unlikely to become Putin’s new proxy within the European Union

By Kristian Kafozov

Newly elected Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev is unlikely to replace recently ousted Hungarian leader Viktor Orban as Vladimir Putin's proxy within the EU and NATO, writes Kristian Kafozov.

Conflict Defense Policy

Balkans Debrief

May 8, 2026

Are the Balkans the Key to Europe’s Critical Raw Materials? A Debrief with Rizos, Adams & Pop

Ilva Tare speaks with Vasileios Rizos, Kirk Adams, and Daniel Pop to discuss critical raw materials in the Western Balkans.

Critical Minerals Economy & Business

Dispatches

Apr 23, 2026

From Dubrovnik to Dubrovnik: The evolution of the Three Seas Initiative

By Ian Brzezinski

While there is much to celebrate about the initiative’s accomplishments over the past decade, leaders will also need to make important and difficult decisions in Dubrovnik about how it should evolve.

Central Europe Eastern Europe

Dispatches

Apr 22, 2026

What Orbán’s defeat in Hungary means for the Western Balkans

By Agon Maliqi

During his sixteen years in power, Orbán built an infrastructure of influence in the Western Balkans to support his political allies.

Elections European Union

Experts