Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group (BiEPAG) is marking its 10th anniversary. Founded in 2014 to promote the European integration of the Western Balkans and the consolidation of democracy in the region, BiEPAG will continue pursuing these goals during the second decade of its work.
BiEPAG was established as a joint initiative of the European Fund for the Balkans and the Centre for Southeast European Studies of the University of Graz. It produces research and policy advice and is also active in communication and advocacy.
The Group currently gathers 25 experts, who are based in each of the six Western Balkan countries, as well as the European Union. The experts include members of academia and think tank researchers, while some of them have also held high-level government positions in their respective countries.
The coordination team of BiEPAG consists of Aleksandra Tomanić, Executive Director of the European Fund for the Balkans, Florian Bieber, Director of the Centre for Southeast European Studies at the University of Graz and Marko Kmezić, Senior Researcher at the same Centre.
Since its launch, BiEPAG has published more than 40 policy papers and analyses authored by its members and has organized multiple conferences across the Balkans and the EU.
The topics of BiEPAG publications have ranged from democracy and the rule of law and their status in the EU enlargement policy, regional cooperation and the Berlin Process, and bilateral disputes, to the role of the global actors in the region, as well as its green energy transition.
BiEPAG’s work has popularized the concept of stabilitocracy, which it has used to describe regimes that oscillate between autocracy and democracy, supported by foreign actors who fail to acknowledge this condition and continue collaboration with these autocratic leaders.
In recent years, BiEPAG has also carried out opinion polls in the Western Balkans and several EU countries, including the Netherlands. The results in the latter showed that public opinion may not hinder enlargement as much as originally thought.
BiEPAG also produces podcasts, reactions, blogs and other forms of analysis of ongoing developments. Its members are regular commentators in many regional and European media.