The Balkans

The Balkans

The Western Balkans has seen significant progress toward stability and toward regional and Euro-Atlantic integration in the form of developments such as Albania’s, North Macedonia’s, and Montenegro’s NATO accessions and the resolution of the Greece-North Macedonia dispute. While the Balkan countries continue to work on strengthening their democratic institutions, combating corruption, addressing human rights concerns, and countering the spread of disinformation, they also grapple with persistent regional tensions, such as those between Kosovo and Serbia. US and EU commitment remains crucial to ensure that progress toward prosperity, stability, and regional political and economic integration continues.

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

Dispatches Jan 23, 2026

2026 will be a big year in the Western Balkans. Here’s what to watch.

By Amanda Thorpe, Stuart Jones

In the coming year, Western Balkan countries will increasingly need to assume greater agency in shaping their own trajectories.
Economy & Business Energy & Environment
From Dubrovnik to Dubrovnik: The evolution of the Three Seas Initiative

The Big Story Dec 11, 2025

Bosnia’s forgotten war is still with us

By Thom Shanker

Fewer than fifty years after the end of World War II, genocide returned to Europe in Bosnia. The carnage ended on December 14, 1995, with the signing of the US-brokered Dayton Accords. Thirty years on, have the war’s lessons—for Europe; for diplomacy, humanitarian intervention, and more—been heeded?
Conflict NATO
From Dubrovnik to Dubrovnik: The evolution of the Three Seas Initiative

New Atlanticist Nov 26, 2025

What prolonged Russian aggression against Europe could mean for the Balkans

By Agon Maliqi

The prospect of a prolonged, wider European war in the coming years is reshaping strategic calculations throughout the Balkans.
Conflict Crisis Management

Explore the #BalkansDebrief Series

#BalkansDebrief

The Atlantic Council Europe Center‘s #BalkansDebrief series features timely conversations on key issues impacting the Western Balkans. Nonresident senior fellow Ilva Tare hosts newsmakers, experts, and officials for discussions on rule of law, energy security, cultural heritage, Russian and Chinese influence in the region, and more.

Explore the Series

Program

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

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Content

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

Balkans Debrief

Apr 17, 2026

Is Hungary’s Influence in the Balkans Over With Orban? A Debrief with Peter Kreko

Europe Center Senior Fellow Ilva Tare sits down with Péter Krekó to discuss Hungary's future approach to the Western Balkans after Viktor Orbán's defeat.

Democratic Transitions Elections

UkraineAlert

Apr 16, 2026

Could Bulgaria replace Hungary as Putin’s proxy inside the EU?

By Jan Surotchak

Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán's recent election defeat was widely seen as a major setback for Russia, but victory for the pro-Kremlin candidate in this week's Bulgarian parliamentary elections could provide Putin with a new proxy inside the EU, writes Jan Surotchak.

Conflict Defense Policy

Balkans Debrief

Mar 24, 2026

The Western Balkans in today’s transatlantic landscape | A Debrief with Dimitris Tsarouhas

Ilva Tare sits down with Dimitris Tsarouhas, Washington DC Representative of ELIAMEP, to discuss how the Western Balkans are navigating the current transatlantic landscape.

Europe & Eurasia International Norms

Balkans Debrief

Mar 11, 2026

Kosovo’s Political Limbo Worries Brussels | A Debrief with Augustin Palokaj

Europe Center Senior Fellow Ilva Tare speaks with Brussels-based correspondent Augustin Palokaj about Kosovo's renewed political instability and EU prospects.

Elections Europe & Eurasia

Dispatches

Mar 10, 2026

Has the EU found a ‘magic bullet’ to its enlargement conundrum or a new distraction?

By Agon Maliqi

A proposal for European Union enlargement would offer new member states a kind of second-class status, effectively creating a two-tier EU.

European Union Eurozone

Dispatches

Jan 23, 2026

2026 will be a big year in the Western Balkans. Here’s what to watch.

By Amanda Thorpe, Stuart Jones

In the coming year, Western Balkan countries will increasingly need to assume greater agency in shaping their own trajectories.

Economy & Business Energy & Environment

Balkans Debrief

Jan 16, 2026

Is the U.S. Back in the Western Balkans? A Debrief with Congressman Mike Turner

Rep. Mike Turner sits down with Ilva Tare of the Europe Center to discuss the future of US engagement in the Western Balkans.

Europe & Eurasia Financial Sanctions and Economic Coercion

Balkans Debrief

Dec 30, 2025

Will Kurti’s 4th victory reshape Kosovo’s foreign relations? | A Debrief with Yll Sadiku

Ilva Tare and Yll Sadiku break down the results of Kosovo's election and the foreign policy implications of Albin Kurti's victory on December 28, 2025.

Elections Europe & Eurasia
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Experts

Fellow

Valeska Esch

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Europe Center

European Union Germany

Fellow

Daniel Fried

Weiser Family Distinguished Fellow

Economic Statecraft Initiative Eurasia Center

Eastern Europe Democratic Transitions

Staff

Bailey Galicia

Assistant Director, Strategy and Operations

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

Disinformation Politics & Diplomacy

Fellow

Gorana Grgić

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Indo-Pacific Security Initiative Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

Croatian Democratic Transitions

Executive Leadership Intensive participant

Rudina Hajdari

Former Member of Parliament, Republic of Albania

Millennium Leadership Program

Human Rights Political Reform

Fellow

Christopher Hill

Distinguished Fellow

Europe Center

Europe & Eurasia French
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