News

2025

June

12 June 2025

Gerald Knaus warned that lasting peace in the Balkans depends on reviving EU enlargement with a credible strategy linking reforms to access to the single market.

12 June 2025

Adnan Ćerimagić presented ESI’s take on how Germany’s new government can help revive EU enlargement through credible reforms and stronger support for democracy in the Western Balkans.

11 June 2025

At a “Kitchen Talk” in Berlin, Adnan Ćerimagić challenged persistent clichés about Bosnia, highlighting the country’s peaceful reintegration since 1995 and the need for honest reporting on genocide and denial.

10 June 2025

At a Hertie School panel in Berlin, Adnan Cerimagic shared ESI’s insights on how the EU can more effectively defend democracy and the rule of law at home and in candidate countries.

6 June 2025

Gerald Knaus responded to EU Court president Koen Lenaerts with a call to defend Europe’s rule-based order against authoritarian threats by recalling and communicating the European Union’s founding vision.

6 June 2025

At the Europe’s Futures symposium on the island of Cres, Kristof Bender joined leading voices to discuss the political momentum behind EU enlargement.

5 June 2025

Adnan Cerimagic joined policymakers and civil society experts to discuss how the EU can strengthen its enlargement strategy and better support reforms in the Western Balkans.

4 June 2025

Gerald Knaus spoke about Europe’s war-torn past and argued that integration and enlargement remain the EU’s most successful peace strategies.

3 June 2025

Gerald Knaus debated how Europe can reconcile humanitarian values with effective migration policy in the 21st century.

May

30 May 2025

At the FES Dialogue Southeast Europe workshop in Podgorica, ESI senior analyst Adnan Cerimagic explored how radical right and Eurosceptic forces are affecting EU enlargement.

28 May 2025

At the 2025 Political Academy in Prevalla, ESI senior analyst Adnan Cerimagic discussed with young political leaders how credible benchmarks and political will can revive EU enlargement and bring the Western Balkans closer to membership.

27 May 2025

At a regional seminar in Sarajevo, Adnan Ćerimagić spoke to Swedish diplomats about EU enlargement, Bosnia’s internal challenges, and the Western Balkans’ place in a shifting European and transatlantic landscape.

27 May 2025

Gerald Knaus discussed democratic peace, EU enlargement and migration policy with Norwegian officials, parliamentarians and human rights defenders, drawing lessons from Norway’s role in the European Economic Area.

26 May 2025

Gerald Knaus warned that only a credible, rule-based migration policy can counter rising authoritarianism and protect democracy in Europe.

21 May 2025

Gerald Knaus called for effective and humane migration policies to defend European democracy against the threats of war, populism and authoritarianism.

20 May 2025

Gerald Knaus argued for reviving the EU’s peace narrative and offering candidate countries access to the single market, while discussing practical migration challenges with local officials in Saxony.

20 May 2025

Adnan Cerimagic, ESI’s senior analyst, participated in the expert group discussion “Prospects for the Next Phase in the Dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia” organised by the European Council on Foreign Relations.

19 May 2025

Adnan Ćerimagić joined a German Foreign Office seminar in Podgorica to discuss how the EU can counter growing third actor influence in the Western Balkans and reinforce its credibility in the region.

17 May 2025

At the Helsinki Debate on Europe, held fifty years after the signing of the Helsinki Final Act, Kristof Bender joined leading thinkers to discuss war, human rights, and ongoing challenges in Ukraine and the Western Balkans.

16 May 2025

Adnan Cerimagic, ESI’s senior analyst, participated in the seventh meeting of the Friends of the Western Balkans (FoWB) and the Willy Brandt Programme seminar, which focused on the student-led anti-corruption protests in Serbia and their implications for regional politics and EU enlargement.