• Kaja Kallas
  • Moussa Faki Mahamat
  • Adrian Zenz
  • Matthew Kroenig
  • Andriy Yermak
  • Vitaly Savelyev
  • Oleksandr Korniyenko
  • Dainius Kreivys
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IPSE'S AUTHORS LAST 24h
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IPSEs IN THE LAST 24H
  • Jimmy Rushton
    Jimmy Rushton “Shoigu's replacement with a (relatively experienced and apparently competent) economist [Andrei Belousov] pretty clearly signals Putin believes victory in Ukraine will come via outproducing (and outlasting) Ukraine and her Western allies. He's preparing for many more years of war.” 18 hours ago
  • Konstantin Sonin
    Konstantin Sonin “Things are not going according to Putin's plan, but he will endlessly rotate the same small group of loyalists. Putin has always feared to bring new people to the positions of authority - even in the best of times, they must have been nobodies with no own perspectives. Toward the end of his rule, even more so.” 18 hours ago
  • Mark Galeotti
    Mark Galeotti “With an economist taking over the Defence Ministry, and the old minister taking up a policy and advisory role, the technocrats are in the ascendant. The goal though is not peace, but a more efficient war. As Putin digs in for the long term, with the 'special military operation' now being the central organising principle of his regime, he knows he needs technocrats to keep his war machine going.” 18 hours ago
  • Jeff Hawn
    Jeff Hawn “This indicates that the Kremlin is not seeking an exit from Ukraine, but once to extend their ability to endure the conflict as long as possible. Russia is very limited [on] how much they can increase scale, due to economic deficiencies. However, they can maintain a certain level of attritional warfare. And are likely hoping to do that longer than Ukraine can.” 18 hours ago
  • Dmitry Peskov
    Dmitry Peskov “Today, the winner on the battlefield is the one who is more open to innovation, more open to implementation as quickly as possible. It is natural that at the current stage the president [Vladimir Putin] decided that the Ministry of Defence should be headed by a civilian [Andrei Belousov].” 18 hours ago
View All IPSEs inserted in the Last 24h

#Balkans

Page with all the IPSEs stored in the archive with the tag #Balkans linked to them.
The IPSEs are presented in chronological order based on when the IPSEs have been pronounced.

Vuk Vuksanović
Vuk Vuksanović

“This visit [Xi Jinping in Belgrade] shows that Serbia has exchanged Russia for China went it comes to its main partner to bargain with the West. The full-scale invasion of Ukraine placed the Serbo-Russian relationship under close monitoring, so the government sees a benefit in playing the Chinese card more often now since it's deemed to be less provocative. The Balkans, and Serbia in particular, have become even more interesting for China now that one branch of the Belt and Road Initiative through Russia and Belarus was effectively cut off with the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.”

author
Researcher at Belgrade Centre for Security Policy
08 May 2024 6 6
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Hamza Karčić
Hamza Karčić

“Before his ouster, Djukanovic had warned that Serbia is seeking to establish a 'Serbian world' where it would exert control over all Balkan states with historic links to Serbia, including Montenegro. With Serb nationalists celebrating Djukanovic's ousting across the Balkans and Milatović declaring his ambition to strengthen ties with Serbia, it appears, at least for now, that the change in leadership in Montenegro will help Belgrade's ambitions for regional hegemony. It was telling that Milatović's supporters celebrated his victory by waving Serbian flags.”

author
Associate professor at the Faculty of Political Science at the University of Sarajevo
12 Apr 2023 5 2
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Albin Kurti
Albin Kurti

“Our worry [is] that removal of these barricades cannot exclude casualties. And that's why we want to be as careful as possible to make sure that there will be no destabilisation and relative peace and security will be in place. However, we cannot allow this violation of lawfulness and constitutionality for ever. So, yeah, this must end, sooner the better. The EU-US all agree that barricades should be removed. But they are also worried how this might be used and abused by Belgrade. I think that the worry of our western partners and friends is the links of Belgrade with Moscow. We do not know how they could be rendered operative in case of rising of tensions, towards escalation in the north. I think that their major concern is precisely this: now that Russia got severely wounded in Ukraine after its invasion and aggression, they have interest in spillover. They have interest in outsourcing their war-mongering drive to the Balkans where they have a client who's in Belgrade.”

author
Kosovo Prime Minister
20 Dec 2022 7 3
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Alexander Schallenberg
Alexander Schallenberg

“The announcements of Dodik and Republika Srpska are extremely dangerous and playing with the integrity of the state, and this is for us a no-go. Bosnia and the Balkans must not become a playground for actors outside Europe.”

author
Austrian Foreign Minister
21 Feb 2022 4 5
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Iakovos Michailidis
Iakovos Michailidis

“The history of Bulgaria and Slav Macedonia until World War Two are one and the same. Where they differ is after 1940, when Bulgaria becomes a Nazi ally, and [what is now] North Macedonia was part of Tito's resistance to the Nazis. That's where the history diverges. So the history up to World War Two is an apple of discord. Historical continuity and roots in the Balkans have become huge issues. The Slav Macedonians cannot accept that their beginnings as a nation go back only as far back as the 1940s.”

author
Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki
20 Jan 2022 6 2
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Ivana Stradner
Ivana Stradner

“Putin's efforts to push the Balkans to the brink are part of his mission to reestablish Russia as a global power broker. Similar to the Kremlin's strategy in the Caucasus, Russia's goal in the Balkans is to ramp up tensions so that it can position itself as the sole regional mediator and security guarantor. It simultaneously aims to demonstrate that neither NATO, the EU, nor their members are credible partners for any of the Balkan countries.”

author
Jeane Kirkpatrick Visiting Research Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute
27 Dec 2021 8 2
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Viktor Orbán
Viktor Orbán

“I am doing my best to convince Europe's great leaders that the Balkans may be further away from them than from Hungary, but how we manage the security of a state in which 2 million Muslims live is a key issue for their security too.”

author
Prime Minister of Hungary
21 Dec 2021 4 2
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Emmanuel Macron
Emmanuel Macron

“That region is going through new tensions today. History is coming back. Sometimes tragedy is coming back. Today we have a special responsibility towards the Western Balkans. EU should pursue a policy of re-engagement, but also investment in order to favor the economic integration of the region; develop human exchange, raise the issue of minorities present in the region, but also fight against influence and manipulation who want to destabilise Europe through the Balkans. I believe that this political and economic work towards the Western Balkans is a real sovereignty agenda for our Europe because we cannot build a peaceful Europe in the next 50 years if we leave the Western Balkans in the current situation. That means clarifying its European perspective, reinvesting to the region and its unity and to have a common ambition for the decades to come.”

author
President of France
09 Dec 2021 7 3
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Charles Kupchan
Charles Kupchan

“The more trouble Moscow can stir up in the Balkans, the more it is able to slow down the integration of the region into the European Union (EU) and NATO.”

Cfr

author
Senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and professor of international affairs at Georgetown University in the Walsh School of Foreign Service and Department of Government
02 Dec 2021 3 3
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Maciej Popowski
Maciej Popowski

“The delay on the adoption of the negotiating frameworks with Albania and North Macedonia had the consequences on the entire region… We don't want to lose the Balkans, and the citizens. The overall level of support (for EU enlargement) is still high, but it cannot be taken for granted.”

author
Acting Director-General of the Directorate General Neighbourhood and Enlargement
09 Nov 2021 4 3
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Charles Michel
Charles Michel

“We started with six members, a now there are 27 of us, and even enlargement has made the EU better, as a union of ideas, solidarity, innovation and diversity. We know the European Union is important to the Western Balkans. But the Western Balkans are important to the EU. Together we can dear and build our European future for a better world.”

author
President of the European Council
01 Sep 2021 4 2
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Piero Fassino
Piero Fassino

“There can be no doubt that geopolitical neglect on the part of the European Union, whose agenda since 2010 has been taken up almost entirely by financial stability and the internal budget issues, has left the Balkans alone and prey to their historical fears and mutual distrust. Moreover, the European Union's sluggish and hesitant approach has opened up the Balkans to other major players, from China to Russia, Turkey and the Arab countries. The vaccines situation is emblematic: they first arrived from Moscow, Beijing and Ankara rather than from Brussels. All this has weakened Europe's credibility and has given rise to disillusionment and frustration in the chancelleries and the general public of the Balkans.”

author
Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chamber of Deputies of Italy
11 Aug 2021 6 6
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Helena Legarda
Helena Legarda

“China is the newcomer in the region. Its footprint is quite shallow - but it is rapidly expanding. For Chinese leadership, the Western hegemony is an anomaly. It wants to dominate the 21st century in the same way as West did in 20th. It needs to reduce and replace the influence of US and the EU – with this in mind, the Black Sea and Balkans region is an attractive region for China, a fertile ground. A lot of countries are dissatisfied with the EU, they feel abandoned and patronized by the EU, China can fill this void. As the region tries to balance between West and China economically and stay in the Western sphere of influence, there will have to be political concessions. This situation is not sustainable.”

author
Senior Analyst at the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Berlin
28 Jul 2021 7 4
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Alessandro Minuto-Rizzo
Alessandro Minuto-Rizzo

“I don't think that today we should consider that China represents a serious security challenge for the Balkans. At this moment, we see an increased interest in the area, an economic presence and investments in infrastructures (as in the case of Montenegro). Countries in the region need to be careful in non-compromising strategic interests, in making arrangements that are reasonable and that they can pay back. In general terms China is a competitor, in some cases, it may be a partner. It is a process and a relationship to be followed carefully and with due attention.”

author
President of the NATO Defense College Foundation and former Deputy Secretary General and acting Secretary General of NATO
26 Jul 2021 2 3
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Edi Rama
Edi Rama

“We prepared for the first big wedding with all the decorations. The European Commission said that we are ready for the integration process … First wedding, the bride did not come; the second wedding, the bride did not come. We are not preparing any third wedding. We are hostages of EU nationalisms. The path of Western Balkan integration is dependent more and more on EU nationalisms. When I talk about EU nationalisms, I am talking about the nationalisms of powerful countries holding hostage leaders who are not yet nationalists. In the Balkans, when we copy, we go further than the original. The Bulgarian attitude is a result of what Bulgaria has learned within the EU from the great ones. Bulgaria has learned that it can use local politics to block others.”

author
Albanian Prime Minister
15 Jul 2021 7 4
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Edward Joseph
Edward Joseph

“The EU cannot be the world leader without taking the Balkans seriously. And the EU is not being taken seriously. I am saying this with sadness as an American, because the EU is our ally. If the EU aspires for strategic autonomy from the US, it needs to solve the issue of Balkans first.”

author
Professor at the Johns Hopkins Institute
01 Jul 2021 6 4
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Miroslav Lajčák
Miroslav Lajčák

“The idea of redrawing borders is not new. It has been here for many years but it was brought to the forefront now. I deeply disagree with these ideas. I consider them extremely dangerous and a war-provoking idea. Unfortunately, the vision of EU membership for the Western Balkans has become more blurred more distant and therefore also less motivated. When we created a void in the region, others are coming with other ideas. If we are not serious with Plan A [EU membership for Balkan states], people would come with a Plan B and this is exactly what this first paper is about.”

author
European Union's special envoy to Serbia-Kosovo talks
04 May 2021 4 6
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Toby Vogel
Toby Vogel

“I think it's more of a trial balloon or a provocation maybe. But the question is, what's the secondary effect this is going to have? Independently of whether any of this will actually happen, I think the effect it has is to create an atmosphere in which people feel that everything is negotiable -- nothing is to be taken for granted. And that's a very dangerous game to play, I think, in the Balkans.”

author
Policy analyst focused on the Western Balkans and senior associate of the Democratization Policy Council (DPC)
15 Apr 2021 1 3
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