The 2022 Italian general elections were held in Italy on 25 September 2022, after the fall of the Draghi government. The centre-right coalition led by Giorgia Meloni’s party, Brothers of Italy, a radical-right political party with neo-fascist roots, won an absolute majority of seats in the Italian Parliament. Why did the right-wing coalition win the […]

Srbija se suočava sa ozbiljnim problemom emigracije. Globalni indeks konkurentnosti 2018–2019. svrstao je Srbiju na 134. mesto od 137 rangiranih zemalja u kontekstu njene sposobnosti da zadrži talenat ili spreči „odliv mozgova“. Mnogi sektori u Srbiji su pogođeni trendom povećane emigracije kvalifikovanih radnika kao što su medicinske sestre, lekari, vozači itd. Bolji uslovi rada i […]

Today’s episode of European Talks discusses the issue of the EU enlargement impasse and how it is being dealt with. With the rising skepticism regarding enlargement and slow reforms in candidate countries, Srđan Majstorović, Chairman of CEP Governing Board, Steven Blockmans, Director of Research at CEPS, and Milena Lazarević, CEP Programme Director, talk about “thinking out of the […]

The issues of corruption, the rise of external actors, and environmental neglect are becoming increasingly present in the Western Balkans. We are joined by Tena Prelec, a research fellow at Oxford University, a research associate at the LSE, and a member of BiEPAG, with whom we talk about whether and how all of these issues […]

Our guest was Mr John Allen, a retired four-star general and the President of the Brookings Institution, one of the most influential think tanks in the world. Although the outgoing President Trump continues to claim that the US elections were rigged, President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take his position in the White House, with the aim […]

Following the European Commission’s 2017 Proposal for a Directive on work-life balance for parents and carers, the new EU Work-life Balance Directive was passed by the European Parliament in April 2019. The aim of this Directive is to “improve families’” access to family leave and flexible work arrangements’, and ultimately “contribute to an increase in […]

A conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno Karabakh, a territory which is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, but de facto ruled by the Armenian majority living there, re-erupted a couple of days ago. In order to get the full picture of what is happening on the ground, and to see what can […]

The recent elections in Montenegro suggest that major changes could soon take place in the country in the Western Balkans. Montenegro has opened all chapters in the process of negotiations with the EU, but how far has the enlargement process really progressed and what can be expected in the coming period when it comes to […]

In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, the Council of the EU gave the green light to the opening of accession talks with Albania. What are the expectations regarding the next steps, given the current pandemic restrictions? Can the revised enlargement methodology lead to a more effective accession process? What is the current political climate […]

In this episode, we talked about the current political situation in North Macedonia, EU sentiments of its citizens, and about the strengths and risks of the revised accession methodology for the Western Balkans. Our guest is Dr Simonida Kacarska, director of the European Policy Institute – EPI in Skopje, North Macedonia.