Recent developments and actions in the Western Balkans, especially those by Milorad Dodik, demonstrate the need to counter authoritarian tendencies and backward-oriented policies that threaten the advances achieved in region since the end of the bloody Yugoslav Wars. Worse still, some politicians within the EU, such as Viktor Orbaán, seek to form alliances with authoritarian leaders in the region and prevent a united front by the EU. At the same time, other member states that do not support reactionary forces in the region continue to pose obstacles to the Western Balkan countries’ accession and integration process. Additionally, many citizens of the Western Balkans – especially, Kosovar citizens – face obstacles to the freedom of movement within the region and throughout the Schengen Area. Even more alarmingly, we have witnessed democratic backsliding within EU countries, such as Hungary and Poland, as well as aspiring EU members states, such as Turkey. The results of the recent elections in Serbia and Hungary clearly indicate that the era of electoral authoritarianism is on the rise in Europe.
The EU now faces several significant foreign policy challenges. Since Putin began Russia’s war against Ukraine, the EU has been reconsidering its past relations with Russia. It is imperative that the EU develops a common foreign and security policy that provides guidance on how to deal with such authoritarian regimes.
Thus, when reactionary and authoritarian forces cooperate and unite in their efforts to destroy the very values that the EU stands for, including fundamental rights and respect for diversity, those who want to uphold these principles and values must also cooperate. To this end, different associations and NGOs in the Western Balkans that are engaged in safeguarding democracy and civil rights should unite with organizations and groups within the EU that are fighting a similar battle.
It is in this context and with the aim of developing a common framework to manage the threat of authoritarian tendencies that the workshop on ´How to deal with the threat of authoritarianism?´ was organized.