Europeum

e15 | Enlargement of the Schengen area to include Romania and Bulgaria

March 31, 2024

The Schengen area of free movement of goods and persons will was extended to Romania and Bulgaria from Sunday 31 March. The two countries have been waiting seventeen years for this moment, since they joined the European Union. For now, only the maritime and air borders are removed, but land borders should follow in the next few months. Viktor Daněk, deputy director of the EUROPEUM Institute, commented on both the economic benefits and possible risks of partial enlargement for the daily e15.

Op-Ed | The grain dispute is the first sign that Ukraine's EU accession will not be easy. What obstacles await on this path?

May 02, 2023

The Ukrainian grain situation is making waves in Europe. Deputy Director and Head of the Brussels Office Ziga Faktor wrote an Op-Ed about the impact of the situation on the country's EU accession and how some member states are reacting.

Report | Monitoring of the EU's Green Policies: Perceptions and Narratives in the Czech and Slovak Information Space

February 02, 2023

The European Green Deal is the core of the current climate strategy of the European Union, which has set the goal of making Europe a carbon-neutral continent by 2050. In an effort to monitor and counter disinformation narratives about the deal, IRI's Beacon project launched an initiative called the “European Green Deal: Mapping perceptions in Central and Eastern Europe,” in which six partner organizations studied how the deal is perceived in Bulgaria, Czechia, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia. Our project manager and juniour researcher, Tatiana Mindeková, analyzed narratives spread about the Green Deal and the EU’s green policies through Czech chain emails as well as through selected mainstream media and websites known for spreading disinformation.

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EURACTIV.cz | Macedonian identity at risk, EU must help resolve historic disputes with Bulgaria

October 21, 2022

On the occasion of the Think Tank Forum: EU enlargement conference, an interview with the Macedonian diplomat, politician and foreign policy expert Nikola Dimitrov was conducted. Dimitrov answers questions on issues such as the impact of the Russian invasion on the EU enlargement process and the importance of the Czech Presidency for the Balkan countries.

European Green Deal: Mapping Perceptions in Central and Eastern Europe

March 29, 2023

EUROPEUM is one of the partners of the project led by The International Republican Institute (IRI) under the Beacon project, which aims to monitor how the European Green Deal is perceived in Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria.

Hospodářské noviny: Breakthrough: Macedonians and Albanians start talks on EU accession, Fiala flies to Brussels for a U-turn

July 19, 2022

The leaders of Northern Macedonia and Albania will open their countries' accession talks to the European Union in Brussels on Tuesday, something for which Northern Macedonia has been waiting for over 17 years and Albania for eight. The head of our Brussels office, Žiga Faktor, commented on this fact for Hospodářské noviny. Žiga Faktor also comments on the agreement between Northern Macedonia and Bulgaria. In his view, the EU may have set a precedent by allowing bilateral historical and cultural disputes to become part of the accession process.

Aktuálně.cz: Macedonians and Albanians start negotiations on EU accession. Fiala flies to Brussels for this

July 19, 2022

The leaders of Northern Macedonia and Albania will open their countries' accession talks to the European Union in Brussels on Tuesday, something for which Northern Macedonia has been waiting for over 17 years and Albania for eight. The head of our Brussels office, Žiga Faktor, commented on this fact for Aktuálně.cz. Faktor also commented on the agreement between North Macedonia and Bulgaria, which opened the way for North Macedonia to join the EU. Faktor believes that the EU may have set a precedent by allowing bilateral historical and cultural disputes to become part of the accession process.

RTV: Fall of the bulgarian government

June 24, 2022

Our research fellow Žiga Faktor commented on the fall of the bulgarian government in the main news programme of Radio Slovakia. The government there lasted only six months in power. One of the reasons for the fall is, among other things, the dispute over EU enlargement. According to our researcher, recent weeks suggest that Sofia is willing to back down from its Veto, which would give the stagnant enlargement process a new impulse. He also mentions that the political instability in the Balkans suits pro-Russian parties.

Policy Paper: Czech-Russian Escalation as a Case of Deeper EU-Russia Crisis: Time for a United and Credible Action

December 27, 2021

Pavel Havlíček, an analyst at the AMO Research Centre, has written a policy paper for our Brussels office on the Czech-Russian escalation as a case of a deeper crisis between the EU and Russia. In his article, he also makes recommendations for the European Union. The text was written during a research stay in Brussels, which was facilitated by our Brussels office with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic.

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INVITATION: Western Balkans in 2020: EU Enlargement in Turbulent Times

November 25, 2020

We would like to invite you to a debate "Western Balkans in 2020: EU Enlargement in Turbulent Times". The event will take place on Friday 27 November between 17:00–18:15 via Zoom and will be broadcasted on Facebook.