The REUNIR Podcast

This episode is produced by the REUNIR Horizon Europe Project. Host Prof. Tobias Schumacher welcomes Dr. Denis Cenusa, Associate Expert at the Geopolitics and Security Studies Centre in Lithuania and Non-Resident Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis in Washington.

Against the backdrop of the upcoming European Security Strategy, they discuss the security threats facing the EU’s candidate countries in the Western Balkans and Eastern Neighbourhood, from Russian aggression and hybrid threats to broader vulnerabilities in defence, cybersecurity and governance. They explore what the EU can - and should - do to strengthen the security and resilience of its future members, including through closer security and defence cooperation and greater access to EU instruments and initiatives.

For further analysis and concrete recommendations, read the REUNIR policy brief on security at reunir-horizon.eu

This episode is produced by the REUNIR Horizon Europe Project. Host Madalina Dobrescu welcomes Jelena Pejić Nikić, senior research at the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP) and a PhD candidate at the University of Belgrade. They discuss the socioeconomic threats posed by external actors in the EU's candidate countries in the Western Balkans, and how the EU can help strengthen socioeconomic resilience in these countries.

This episode is produced by the REUNIR Horizon Europe Project. Host Madalina Dobrescu welcomes Tinatin Akhvlediani, research fellow at the EU foreign policy unit at CEPS and a visiting professor at the College of Europe and the International School of Economics at Tbilisi State University. They discuss the socioeconomic threats posed by external actors in the EU's candidate countries in the Eastern neighbourhood, and how the EU can help strengthen socioeconomic resilience in these countries.

This episode is produced by the REUNIR Horizon Europe Project. Host Madalina Dobrescu welcomes Florian Bieber, professor of Southeast European History and Politics and director of the Centre for Southeast European Studies at the University of Graz. He is also the coordinator of the Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group (BiEPAG). They discuss one of REUNIR's working papers on political threats posed by external actors in the EU's candidate countries, focusing on the strategies used by external actors to interfere in the political affairs of the candidate countries in the Western Balkans.

This episode is produced by the REUNIR Horizon Europe Project. Host Madalina Dobrescu welcomes Laure Delcour, professor of international relations and EU studies at Sorbonne-Nouvelle University, visiting professor at the College of Europe, and director of the Institute for Research on Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and North Asia at the University of Warsaw. They discuss how the threats posed by external actors to Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia's democratic transition and European integration path, and what the EU can do to help strengthen resilience in these countries.

This episode is produced by the REUNIR Horizon Europe Project. Host Madalina Dobrescu welcomes Roman Petrov, Professor of Law at the University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and currently University of Hamburg Fellow 2024/2025 at the Hamburg Institute for Advanced Study (HIAS). With the war in Ukraine entering its third year, they discuss possible scenarios for the war and what victory or defeat would mean for European security.

This episode is recorded in Georgian, and is produced by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the Georgian Institute of Politics, a member of the REUNIR Horizon Europe Project consortium. The podcast discusses Georgia's foreign relations in light of the political escalation of the last weeks, and challenges moving forward. Host Nino Gelashvili, journalist at Radio Liberty welcomes Nino Samkharadze, policy analyst at the Georgian Institute of Politics.

This Romanian-language episode is produced by the Chișinău-based Institute for European Policies and Reform (IPRE) – a member of the REUNIR Horizon Europe Project consortium – and Radio Moldova as part of the Paralela 47 radio program. Host Mihai Mogildea welcomes guests Andrei Curararu (expert at think-tank WatchDog.md), Mariuta Nistor (journalist at independent weekly Ziarul de Garda), and Mihai Isac (independent political analyst). They discuss Russian interference in light of Moldova's presidential elections and EU membership referendum.

This episode is produced by the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP) Lighthouse podcast series, a member of the REUNIR Horizon Europe Project consortium. Host Srdjan Cvijic and guest speaker Tony Lawrence from the International Centre for Defence and Security (ICDS) discuss the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy, the future of EU-NATO relations in light of Trump's victory in the US elections, and the EU's support to Ukraine.