POLICY PAPER | EU Accession Talks for Albania and North Macedonia: Mirage or Reality? Sasa Kulenovic 14/10/2019 Publications, Western Balkans Albania and North Macedonia’s bid to join the European Union has gathered momentum in recent years as the two countries made progress on their quest to open accession negotiations. While the European Comm... Be More Curious...
POLICY BRIEF | Turkey’s incursion into northeast Syria: Why does it matter to the EU? Ebubekir ISIK 14/10/2019 Publications, Turkey The European Union (EU) and its member states have expressed their concerns over Turkey’s ongoing incursion into northeast Syria. With the military operation named Peace Spring, Turkey declared that it ai... Be More Curious...
Western Balkans and the Return to Arms: Can the EU stabilize the region? Sasa Kulenovic 03/10/2019 Publications, Western Balkans The political climate in the Western Balkans has become more volatile in recent years, characterized by an increase in bilateral tensions and a sharpening nationalist and at times warmongering rhetoric. A... Be More Curious...
EU Project Management Training Vocal Europe 30/09/2019 Inside Europe Training Overview Vocal Europe , - a Brussels based Think Tank, has been training young researchers via structured traineeships to empower them with competences that would facilitate their access to the job ma... Be More Curious...
COMMENTARY | Serbia: towards the EU or searching for another direction? Dimitra Koutouzi 29/09/2019 Publications, Western Balkans Serbia and Russia have been allies for many years and Russia is constantly concerned about the relations between Serbia and the European Union (EU). Russia’s interest has always been to keep the Western B... Be More Curious...
PANEL | Artificial Intelligence and the Future of EU Diplomacy Ebubekir ISIK 16/09/2019 Events, Inside Europe Vocal Europe hosted an event on AI and its implications for diplomacy and EU foreign policy on the 8th October 2019. Organised as a panel discussion, the invited speakers brought up a variety of important... Be More Curious...
Monday Talk with Manon Aubry on the Current Challenges Europe Is Facing Matthias Peschke 16/09/2019 Inside Europe As part of our Monday Talks series, which is supported by Science 14, we are talking to MEP Manon Aubry who is the co-chair for the European United Left and Nordic Green Left. Besides her vision for Europ... Be More Curious...
Reflection on the potential emergence of a new party in Turkey and what it means to the EU Ebubekir ISIK 10/09/2019 Publications, Turkey With the potential emergence of a new political party in Turkey resulting from the fragmentation of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the current political set-up in Turkey might turn in... Be More Curious...
Monday Talk with Giulio Terzi, Italy’s Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Ebubekir ISIK 09/09/2019 Beyond Europe As part of our Monday Talks series, we talked with Giulio Terzi, Former Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, about many pressing issues that the EU Foreign Policy is confronted with. Among many issues, we... Be More Curious...
COMMENTARY | New Game-Rules for Nord Stream II Ana-Maria Caminski 06/08/2019 Business, Publications, Russia The idea of a European Union united under common energy policies and energy security strategies, seems to be even more far-fetched, after the amendment of the old Gas Directive (Directive 2009/73/EC),... Be More Curious...
The EU Hybrid Diplomacy Between Deep Concern for Ukraine and no ‘Red-Line’ for Russia Vocal Europe 29/07/2019 Publications, Russia She is graduated with a degree in International Studies and Diplomacy from the University of Trieste, Italy. Currently, she is running her master’s degree at the University of Konstanz with a specialisation in ... Be More Curious...
POLICY BRIEF | The Jerusalem security summit: what are the implications for the European Union? Mariaeugenia Benato 23/07/2019 Israel, Publications The European Union has often played a primary role in founding the modern Middle East and, over time, it has emphasized the growing importance of this region in tackling international issues such as secur... Be More Curious...
POLICY PAPER | A look inside the Russian Information War against the West Marta Barandiy 17/07/2019 Publications, Russia In the post-truth world of Putin and Trump the international law is being spurned by some states; a development led by the two most powerful permanent members of the United Nation’s Security Council. In t... Be More Curious...
US-EU-Iran: EU reaches its level of mission in compliance with the EU funding treaties, Next step? Astrid Viaud 09/07/2019 Iran, Publications On May 8, 2019, a year to the day after the US unilateral withdrawal from the Agreement, Iran took a new step by suspending two of its major commitments to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). ... Be More Curious...
Interview with Marta Barandiy on EU-Ukraine-Russia Triangle Natalia Liagka 09/07/2019 Russia As part of our interview series supported by Science 14, we have talked to Marta Barandiy, founder of Promote Ukraine. Among many relevant issues, we have talked about recent matters related to Ukraine, R... Be More Curious...
POLICY BRIEF | Nord Stream II: What’s all the buzz about it? Natalia Liagka 27/06/2019 Beyond Europe, Publications Nord Stream II is a gas pipeline that is planned to start in Russia and end in Germany, passing through the Baltic Sea with an underwater route of approximately 1.200 km, and it will transfer 55 billion c... Be More Curious...
COMMENTARY | Reflection on the Results of the European Elections and a Forecast for Europe’s Future Carey Bennington 25/06/2019 Inside Europe, Publications The recent European elections have shed an informative light on the state of politics both within individual member states and in the wider European sphere. There has been a rise in voter turnout in most ... Be More Curious...
POLICY BRIEF | The US – Iran Information Warfare: the backstage of the Nuclear Deal and the role of the European Union Mariaeugenia Benato 25/06/2019 Iran The concept of Information Warfare (IW) is not recent. It could be define as “a targeted effort to undermine and neutralize hostile command and control systems for the purpose of protecting and coordinati... Be More Curious...
REPORT | A Message for Europe from the President of North Macedonia Carey Bennington 24/06/2019 Western Balkans LISTEN TO THE ENTIRE SPEECH President of North Macedonia, Mr Stevo Pendarovski, recently spoke at an event moderated by Shada Islam and hosted by Friends of Europe in Brussels, Belgium. H... Be More Curious...
Interview with Prof. Dirk Rochtus on Politics in Belgium Carey Bennington 19/06/2019 Inside Europe As part of our interview series supported by Science 14, we have talked to Dirk Rochtus, a Professor of Political Science at Catholic Leuven University, and member of Vocal Europe's Advisory Board. Among ... Be More Curious...
OPINION | 2019 European Elections enlarged the gap between globalists and nationalists Ana-Maria Caminski 05/06/2019 Inside Europe Out of its global view, Europe and not only is facing with new tendencies in the effort to conserve his heritage. A nationalistic view situated in opposition with the predominant vision of globalists have... Be More Curious...
British Politicking Puts Us All At Risk Julien Hoez 05/06/2019 Inside Europe Rather than these EU elections being used to promote genuine, positive participation on a European level as they are across the continent, within the U.K. these elections are instead being misrepresented ... Be More Curious...
OPINION | Why Would Turkey Torture its Diplomats? Leighann Spencer 31/05/2019 Turkey Reports of torture are nothing new in Turkey, particularly since the 2016 coup attempt. This set the scene for an unprecedented crackdown on anyone considered ‘enemies of the state’. Since then, over 100,... Be More Curious...
The Balkans Ahead of the New European Parliament: A Change of Paradigm? Zoran Cicak 24/05/2019 Publications, Western Balkans However, there remains a paradox which is indeed endemic in Western Balkans. It is more or less overt support extended by the European Union to policies and leaders which are both inherently anti-European... Be More Curious...
POLICY BRIEF | Which Direction Will Volodymyr Zelenskiy Go? Natalia Liagka 21/05/2019 Beyond Europe, Publications The 2019 Ukrainian presidential elections were concluded on 21st of April. In the second round of the elections two candidates claimed people’s vote, the actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy and the former President... Be More Curious...
A new cooperation for energy security: the U.S. strategy in the Eastern Mediterranean Mariaeugenia Benato 19/05/2019 Business, Publications, Research Area In April 2019, the U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Marco Rubio, Senior United States Senator, announced the establishment of the Eastern Mediterranean Secu... Be More Curious...
COMMENTARY | How North Macedonia’s rebranded name affects its international position? Aleksandra Toska 16/05/2019 Publications, Western Balkans The collapse of Yugoslavia in 1991 led to the birth of several nation states, with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (henceforth FYROM) being one of the initial offspring. Compared to the rest o... Be More Curious...
Will the New Israeli Government Break the Diplomatic Disharmony Between Tel Aviv and Brussels? Pavel Vanev 07/05/2019 Israel, Publications Amid a neck in neck Israeli election, the incumbent Prime Minister, Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu, will likely garner enough support “to extend his decade-long stretch in power to become the country’s longest-se... Be More Curious...
Should we expect a Russian disinformation campaign during the 2019 European elections? Natalia Liagka 07/05/2019 Publications, Russia Disinformation is understood as a verifiably false or misleading information that is created, presented and disseminated for economic gain or to intentionally deceive the public, and maybe cause public ... Be More Curious...
North Macedonia’s Unusual Waltz with Turkey – Will it frustrate the EU and NATO? Pavel Vanev 30/04/2019 Publications, Western Balkans The saga, surrounding the name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), finally came to an end this February (2019) with a brand new North Macedonia label stamped over the old contested FYROM... Be More Curious...
A Possible Empowerment of the EU from the US in its Sanctions Policy? Astrid Viaud 20/04/2019 Beyond Europe, Publications A French version of this article will be available in the Revue Défense Nationale (May 2019). The United States withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on May 8, 2018, and the reinsertio... Be More Curious...
The Looming Spectre of the 2.0 Nuclearization and the European Union Pavel Vanev 13/04/2019 Inside Europe, Publications The row between the US and Russia over the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Force (INF) Treaty began in July 2014, when the US State Department published a Compliance Report, alleging “that the Russian Federati... Be More Curious...
Supporting the rule of law and the dismissed civil society in Turkey through reoriented IPA funds Cengiz Aktar 11/04/2019 Publications, Turkey As a negotiating candidate country to the European Union, at least officially, Turkey continues to benefit from pre-accession assistance (IPA). Turkey’s negotiating process, in fact, has been ailing for a... Be More Curious...
OPINION | Lessons to learn after the first round of the Ukrainian presidential election Robert Petraru 10/04/2019 Beyond Europe On the evening of 31st March 2019, Volodymir Zelenskiy, former comedian, emerged as victorious in the first round of the Ukrainian presidential election with 30% of the vote. Petro Poroshenko, the incumbe... Be More Curious...
Why you should be prepared for a No-Deal Brexit Bob Groome 04/04/2019 Inside Europe, Publications Chaos. Simply googling the word will quickly land you on a Brexit news article — the majority of which are now detailing several reasons as to why you should be prepared for a No-Deal Brexit. Reasons rang... Be More Curious...
Facing war and economic hardship, which candidate can address Ukraine’s biggest challenges? Robert Petraru 28/03/2019 Beyond Europe, Publications The 2019 Ukrainian presidential elections find the Eastern European country still engaged in conflict with Russia and struggling with implementing reforms in various sectors while its citizens have one ... Be More Curious...
Migration crisis: the worst might still come? Jose Diogo Alves 28/03/2019 Inside Europe, Publications The European migrant crisis, which had its start in 2013 with the arrival of an exceptionally large number of migrants and refugees in Europe, was characterized by the greatest mass displacement of indivi... Be More Curious...
Turkish Local Elections in the Shade of Endangered Media Trust and Economic Credibility Mehmet Onur Cevik 27/03/2019 Publications, Turkey Turkey is in a continuous election race as the local elections to be held on 31 March will be the 6th elections in the last five years. Besides the ongoing electoral tension, the country has also been in ... Be More Curious...
State of war in the upcoming Ukrainian elections Ana-Maria Caminski 23/03/2019 Beyond Europe *Edited by Carey Bennington For as long as they have existed, armed conflicts have simply served as pretexts to mask the hidden interests of an adversary camp or with the intention of escalation that c... Be More Curious...
The 2019 European elections: will populist anti-migration alliances prove to be real alliances? Stephanie Leysen 15/03/2019 Inside Europe, Publications On 26 May 2019 citizens all over Europe will head to the ballot box to cast their vote for the European Parliament (EP) elections. The European Parliament is the only transnational parliament in the wor... Be More Curious...
The Warsaw Summit on Iran – A Breaking Point for the “United Europe” Soudabeh Nour 15/03/2019 Iran, Publications After the US unilateral withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear deal in May 2018, Europe's positions have always been in support of it. In the margins of the 2019 Munich Security Conference, EU High Represe... Be More Curious...
Turkey and the European Union: Towards the post-candidacy era Cengiz Aktar 14/03/2019 Turkey It is safe to say that in the history of European Union’s enlargement, opening in 1973 with the accession of Britain, Denmark and Ireland, the first spectacular failure is the candidacy of the Republic of... Be More Curious...
Interview with Cengiz Aktar on Turkish Civil Society and Opposition Stephanie Leysen 13/03/2019 Turkey As part of our "Beyond Europe" research program, we have interviewed Cengiz Aktar who is a professor of political science at the University of Athens and a columnist for Ahval. Among many other issues, we... Be More Curious...
PANEL — Can the European Union Remain Connected to Turkey? Pavel Vanev 12/03/2019 Events, Turkey On the 6th March 2019, Vocal Europe organised an expert panel discussion on the future of EU-Turkey relations under the question “Can the European Union remain connected to Turkey?”. The central pa... Be More Curious...
Kosovo and the EU: The Need for Visa Liberalisation is Growing Alejandra Finotto 09/03/2019 Publications, Western Balkans Just last year, Kosovo was celebrating its 10th anniversary of Independence, which it declared on February 2008 unilaterally from Serbia. Despite having a past marked by conflict, especially given the 1... Be More Curious...
Is Moldova heading into uncertainty as the Democratic Party of Moldova Grows Stronger? Robert Petraru 04/03/2019 Beyond Europe The Republic of Moldova heads into months of uncertainty and political negotiations, as no party managed to win enough seats to form a government. Only four parties managed to enter into Parliament and es... Be More Curious...
The 2019 European Elections: A Trial to Macron’s Leadership Jose Diogo Alves 01/03/2019 Inside Europe, Publications Between the 23rd and the 26th of May, the European Union will have one of the most important elections in its history. In a time of political instability and strong nationalist movements, parties are de... Be More Curious...
Commentary — A European Perspective on Israel’s Nationality Law Alejandra Finotto 13/02/2019 Israel, Publications On July 19th, 2018 the Israeli Knesset, which is the House of Representatives of the State of Israel and thus works as the legislative branch of the government, passed a bill known as “Israel as the Nat... Be More Curious...
POLICY PAPER – European Populism Feels at Home in Moscow: the Italian Case Vera Ventura 05/02/2019 Publications, Russia With the recent rise of tensions in the Azov Sea, Russia-EU relations seem to have reached a new low after the Salisbury attack. However, some European political parties, and notably the so-called populis... Be More Curious...
POLICY PAPER — EU Support to Dismissed Civil Society in Turkey: Yes, There is a Better Alternative Stephanie Leysen 04/02/2019 Publications, Turkey It has been fourteen years since the negotiations on Turkey’s accession to the European Union (EU) were formally opened and the process has been bumpy to say the least. Whereas the European leaders ... Be More Curious...
