The Balkans

Women Activists from the Western Balkans Fighting for Peace and Gender Equality

By Sabine Freizer

Women have taken on greater roles in peace and security sectors In the Western Balkans since the end of the Yugoslav wars, thanks to government sponsored national action plans. However, a conservative backlash against gender equality now risks undermining these gains. The dynamic in the Western Balkans presents the European Union (EU) and NATO with […]

The Electoral Crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina

By Majda Ruge

Last week, Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Zeljana Zovko appealed through the Atlantic Council’s New Atlanticist blog to the US administration for greater engagement on the politically contentious issue of electoral reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), as closed-door negotiations between political parties continue. As a former BiH diplomat and an elected MEP from […]

Wanted: Even-Handed US Engagement in Bosnia and Herzegovina

By Zeljana Zovko

The United States’ engagement is needed in many trouble spots around the world, but in few places is the need as urgent as in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Many Americans will recall vivid TV images from the 1990s of massacres in Sarajevo, the ferocious siege of Bihac, and the genocide at Srebrenica. Since those days of […]

Balkan Officials Have a Message for the EU and the United States: Stay Engaged

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Balkan officials on November 29 made a pitch for deeper US and European Union (EU) engagement with the region, noting that its stability is critical for a peaceful Europe. “Without a stable Balkans, there is no stable Europe,” said Srdjan Darmanović, Montenegro’s foreign minister. Albania’s foreign minister, Ditmir Bushati, highlighted US Secretary of State Rex […]

Sparking entrepreneurship in the Balkans

Young entrepreneurs “can fix the Balkans,” said Mark Boris Andrijanic, director of public policy for Central and Eastern Europe at Uber, “but only if we are allowed to do so.”

Here’s Why US Commitment to the Western Balkans Matters

By Ashish Kumar Sen

The United States and the European Union (EU) must deepen their engagement with the Western Balkans, a region where Russia, Turkey, and wealthy Arab Gulf states have extended their influence and that is considered integral to realizing the idea of a Europe that is whole, free, and at peace, speakers and panelists said at the […]