{"id":53213,"date":"2025-11-05T16:07:19","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T13:07:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/?p=53213"},"modified":"2025-11-05T16:07:19","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T13:07:19","slug":"axiopoiontas-ta-dytika-valkania-gia-tin-gia-tin-amyntiki-etoimotitas-tis-evropis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/en\/strategic-partners-at-europes-edge-harnessing-the-western-balkans-for-eu-defence-readiness\/","title":{"rendered":"Strategic Partners at Europe\u2019s Edge: Harnessing the Western Balkans for EU Defence Readiness"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"the-content\"><p>The publication\u00a0<em>\u201c<strong>Europe\u2019s Overlooked Allies: Why the Western Balkans Matter for EU Defence Readiness<\/strong>\u201d<\/em>\u00a0is a result of ELIAMEP\u2019s initiative\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/en\/projects\/think-nea-new-narratives-of-eu-integration\/\"><strong>think nea \u2013 New Narratives of EU Integration<\/strong><\/a>, supported by the\u00a0<strong>Open Society Foundations \u2013 Western Balkans<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The following policy brief and factsheet were prepared in collaboration with the\u00a0<strong>Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Dialogue Southeast Europe<\/strong>\u00a0and they present the core findings and strategic recommendations of the\u00a0full report. It is intended to provide the audience with a concise, accessible overview of the key insights and proposed actions.<\/p>\n<p>The original thematic report authored by\u00a0<strong>Dr. Ana Krstinovska\u00a0<\/strong>(<em>Research Fellow, South-East Europe Programme, ELIAMEP &amp; Senior Researcher, think nea \u2013 New Narratives of EU Integration<\/em>) and\u00a0<strong>Dr. Alessandro Marrone\u00a0<\/strong>(<em>Head of \u201cDefence, Security and Space\u201d Programme, Istituto Affari Internazionali &amp; Non-Resident Research Associate, think nea \u2013 New Narratives of EU Integration<\/em>) explores the strategic importance of the Western Balkans in the context of the EU\u2019s pursuit of strategic autonomy and enhanced defence readiness.It underscores the argument that Western Balkan countries\u2014despite not yet being EU member states\u2014have increasingly proven their value as security contributors and partners. This contribution is both timely and essential as the EU confronts the implications of the war in Ukraine and potential shifts in the transatlantic security relationship. At the EU level, recent initiatives, such as the 2024 European Defence Industrial Strategy (EDIS) and the 2025 White Paper on European Defence, aim to enhance collective readiness and industrial capability. Yet, the full potential of regional partnerships\u2014particularly with the Western Balkan region\u2014has not been fully realized, undercutting the ability to leverage and further develop their defence capabilities.<\/p>\n<p>You can read the policy brief <a href=\"https:\/\/library.fes.de\/pdf-files\/bueros\/sarajevo\/22364.pdf\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>You can read the factsheet <a href=\"https:\/\/library.fes.de\/pdf-files\/bueros\/sarajevo\/22365.pdf\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The full report is available <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/en\/europes-overlooked-allies-why-the-western-balkans-matter-for-eu-defence-readiness\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The publication\u00a0\u201cEurope\u2019s Overlooked Allies: Why the Western Balkans Matter for EU Defence Readiness\u201d\u00a0is a result of ELIAMEP\u2019s initiative\u00a0think nea \u2013 New Narratives of EU Integration, supported by the\u00a0Open Society Foundations \u2013 Western Balkans. The following policy brief and factsheet were prepared in collaboration with the\u00a0Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Dialogue Southeast Europe\u00a0and they present the core findings and strategic [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":53214,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[492],"tags":[],"program":[23],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53213"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53213"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53213\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53215,"href":"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53213\/revisions\/53215"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53213"},{"taxonomy":"program","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program?post=53213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}