EU Foreign Policy and the Western Balkans

ended

The Jean Monnet Chair on 'EU Foreign Policy and the Western Balkans' (EU-FP-WB) will develop teaching, research and outreach activities about the role that the EU has been playing internationally towards the promotion of conflict resolution, democracy, and economic development, focusing on the Western Balkans. While the region in question is formally set on the path to EU accession, we are observing during the last years the consolidation of democratic backsliding and state capture, the rise of aggressive nationalism that challenges stability and peacebuilding, and the widening of economic divergence from the EU-27 countries. Very worryingly, the Western Balkans have also emerged as a chessboard of geopolitical competition between the EU, the United States, Russia, China, Turkey, and the Gulf countries. The Chair’s teaching activities will acquaint undergraduate and postgraduate students of the University of the Peloponnese with the Union’s efforts to promote its values and norms beyond its immediate borders, paying particular attention to the case of candidate and potential candidate member-states in the Western Balkans. The Chair’s research activities will assess the effectiveness of EU policies towards the region and will strive to contribute to the articulation of policy recommendations. Lastly, the Chair’s outreach activities will focus on informing representatives of selected target groups (e.g., the youth and civil servants) about the interests that the EU defends internationally and its role as a security provider and donor of assistance in the Western Balkans.