{"id":54101,"date":"2026-01-08T14:16:21","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T11:16:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/?p=54101"},"modified":"2026-01-12T11:05:01","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T08:05:01","slug":"ta-dytika-valkania-kai-i-amyntiki-etoimotita-tis-evropis-mia-viomichaniki-prosengisi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/en\/the-western-balkans-and-europe%ca%bcs-defence-readiness-an-industrial-perspective\/","title":{"rendered":"The Western Balkans and Europe\u02bcs Defence Readiness: An Industrial Perspective"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"the-content\"><p>The <strong>policy brief<\/strong> authored <strong>by Dr. Ana Krstinovska<\/strong> \u201c<strong><em>The Western Balkans and Europe\u2019s Defence Readiness: An Industrial Perspective<\/em><\/strong>\u201d is an expansion of the finding of the thematic report \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/en\/europes-overlooked-allies-why-the-western-balkans-matter-for-eu-defence-readiness\/\"><strong><em>Europe\u2019s Overlooked Allies: Why the Western Balkans Matter for EU Defence Readiness<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u201d and part of <strong>ELIAMEP<\/strong>\u2019s initiative <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> which is supported by the <strong>Open Society Foundations \u2013 Western Balkans<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>As Europe faces an increasingly complex security environment marked by the war in Ukraine, renewed great-power competition, and growing concerns over defence industrial capacity, this brief examines the often-overlooked role of the Western Balkans in strengthening Europe\u2019s defence readiness. Adopting an industrial perspective, the analysis highlights the region\u2019s manufacturing capabilities, cost advantages, and strategic location, positioning it as a potential contributor to the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base.<\/p>\n<p>The brief explores the defence-industrial capacities of Western Balkan countries, their alignment with key EU defence priorities\u2014such as ammunition production, drones, and supply-chain resilience\u2014and the strategic benefits of closer integration. It also identifies persistent barriers, including institutional exclusion from EU defence instruments, governance challenges, and political constraints that hinder deeper cooperation.<\/p>\n<p>Drawing on these findings, the paper argues that defence industrial cooperation can serve as both a security multiplier and a credibility-enhancing tool for EU enlargement. It concludes with concrete policy recommendations aimed at integrating Western Balkan defence industries into EU frameworks, improving regulatory alignment, fostering public\u2013private partnerships, and strengthening strategic communication. In doing so, the brief reframes enlargement as a mutually beneficial, capability-building process essential to Europe\u2019s long-term strategic autonomy.<\/p>\n<p>You can read the policy brief <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/defense-brief-think-nea-FINAL.pdf\">here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>The South-East Europe Programme of ELIAMEP is a member of the IGNITA network, led by Open Society Foundations \u2013 Western Balkans.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The policy brief authored by Dr. Ana Krstinovska \u201cThe Western Balkans and Europe\u2019s Defence Readiness: An Industrial Perspective\u201d is an expansion of the finding of the thematic report \u201cEurope\u2019s Overlooked Allies: Why the Western Balkans Matter for EU Defence Readiness\u201d and part of ELIAMEP\u2019s initiative think nea \u2013 New Narratives of EU Integration which is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":54103,"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\/54101"}],"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=54101"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54101\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54176,"href":"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54101\/revisions\/54176"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54101"},{"taxonomy":"program","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eliamep.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program?post=54101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}