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EU Council Green Light Aftermath
A brief update on the immediate aftermath of the EU Council decision to open negotiations with BiH…
Our Mission
DPC’s mission is to press established and emerging democracies and transnational and international institutions to pursue policies based on liberal democratic values and principles within the scope of their international engagements and commitments. Through its research, analysis, advocacy and public engagement, DPC seeks to draw the attention of policymakers, legislators and civil society to encroachments on freedoms within the democratic framework.
News
Trócsányi Nomination Gives MEPs the Chance to Resist Subversion of EU’s Liberal Democratic Values
The nomination of László Trócsányi, a former Hungarian justice minister, as the European Union’s next enlargement commissioner proved to be incendiary news in the Western Balkans. Regional media and civic figures believe that the nomination of the man who was in charge of Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s dismantling of Hungary’s[…]
Putting Extremisms in Context: Book Presentations and Discussions in Washington, DC
DPC Senior Associate Valery Perry participated in a discussion on her recent book Extremism and Violent Extremism in Serbia: 21st Century Manifestations of an Historical Challenge, at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University in Washington DC on May 6. The event was well covered in the Serbian[…]
Pushing on an Open Door: Foreign Authoritarian Influence in the Western Balkans
DPC Senior Associate Kurt Bassuener looks at the influence of illiberal external powers – such as Russia, Turkey, China, and the Gulf states – in the Western Balkans, as well as the Western policies that enabled their gaining traction, in this National Endowment for Democracy-International Forum for Democratic Studies Working[…]
RS Police buy arms, Russians come to train them; Kurt Bassuener comments for The Guardian
Republika Srpska will soon take delivery of some 2,500 automatic rifles to equip its police forces, ostensibly for counterterrorist purposes, just prior to opening a new training center in Zalužani, outside Banja Luka. An arrangement for Russian Interior Ministry to train RS MUP was agreed in 2016. DPC has long[…]
Kurt Bassuener comments on Freedom House’s Freedom in the World 2018, House of Lords International Relations Committee Report on ‘The UK and the Future of the Western Balkans’
In his VOA interview, Kurt Bassuener connects the negative cast of the 2018 Freedom in the World report with the tone set in the White House, terming US President Donald Trump “our first Balkan president,” noting the leadership style and methods employed are reminiscent of those used in the Balkans[…]
Kurt Bassuener VOA interview – The US and the EU need to ally with BiH citizens, not their politicians
In a VOA interview recorded on 2 December, Senior Associate Kurt Bassuener advocated – as he and DPC have consistently – that the US and the EU approach BiH citizens as a constituency, and that they create a more secure and conducive environment to enable BiH citizens to nonviolently confront[…]
Study: State Capture in the Western Balkans
The Democratization Policy Council and Eurothink are pleased to share our report, Sell Out, Tune Out, Get Out, or Freak Out? Understanding Corruption, State Capture, Radicalization, Pacification, Resilience, and Emigration in Bosnia and Herzegovina and North Macedonia. The full volume is available, and also a stand-alone Executive Summary and Recommendations.
This report was based on field work in 2020 with over 200 people, beginning just before the pandemic, and in the summer after the strict lockdowns lifted. Extensive media reviews were conducted for each country, and an online poll. In light of the difficulty in doing field work during COVID-19, this report provides an important overview of the situation in the two countries, from the ground up.
This report is a hybrid: Grounded in academic questions and literature, it strongly reflects the voices of ordinary people in localities that are often ignored in political discussions. In addition to the presentation of data, a set of 18 community snapshots is included to provide a deeper look at the lived impact of a generation of upheaval and stagnation. It also seeks to contribute to theory-building and in turn policy-making, as the issues of polarization, corruption, migration, opportunity, dignity, solidarity and vision were themes encountered and synthesized.
The DPC and Eurothink teams hope that this work will contribute to discussions on all of the themes explored. Most importantly, the report is a reminder of the impact on communities and on people of the radical social changes of the past three decades – changes to which consolidated democracies are themselves not immune.