Research

The European Neighbourhood Council (ENC) released its new analysis entitled “The EU accession process in the Western Balkans and the Roma”.

The ENC Analysis is written by Dr. Yorgos Christidis, Associate Professor of Comparative Politics in the Balkans at the Department of Balkan, Slavonic and Oriental Studies of the University of Macedonia (Thessaloniki, Greece). He is also a Research Fellow at the Hellenic Foundation for European and Security Policy (ELIAMEP) and ENC Academic Council member.

As the EU is getting closer to the Western Balkan countries, it is clear that in the next round of EU enlargement, another group of marginalized Roma communities will become part of the wider Roma predicament faced by the EU. In this publication, Dr. Christidis analyses the position of the Roma in the Western Balkan countries, EU’s “Roma policy” and sets some questions on the effectiveness of the current EU and national approaches.

The full analysis is available here.

The European Neighbourhood Council (ENC) released its new analysis entitled ”Ensuring Security in Ukraine and Eastern Europe: New Formats for EU/NATO Cooperation with Ukraine”

This ENC Analysis is authored by Samuel Doveri Vesterbye, Mykhailo Gonchar, Andreas Marazis and Vitalii Martyniuk. The European Neighbourhood Council and the Centre for Global Studies ”Strategy XXI”, with support of the NATO Information and Documentation Centre in Ukraine organized the two-day conference on 30-31 May 2018 in Kyiv. Based on the results of the conference, this report examines the EU-NATO cooperation in relation to Ukraine with the aim of further embedding the country’s security.

The full analysis is available in PDF format below.

Analysis of EU-NATO cooperation in relation to Ukraine

ENC Analysis: ”The Facilitation of the Issuance of Visas as part of EU-Armenia Relations”

The European Neighbourhood Council (ENC) is glad to introduce the third analysis of the new feature entitled “ENC Analysis“. The latter will display analyses by our Academic Council Members and External Advisors on relevant topics regarding the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) area and wider Europe.

This ENC Analysis features the opinion of Stepan Grigoryan and Nikolay Israyelyan on the facilitation of the issuance of visas as part of EU-Armenia relations. The final objective of the study is to develop the EU-Armenia relationship and serve as a basis for launching the EU-Armenia visa dialogue and subsequently reaching a visa-free regime.

The full analysis is available here.

ENC Analysis: The Eastern Partnership beyond Summitry

The European Neighbourhood Council (ENC) released its new analysis on “The Eastern Partnership beyond Summitry”.

This article is written by our academic council member Dr. Panagiota Manoli who is an Assistant Professor in Political Economy of International Relations at the Department of Political Science and International Relations, University of Peloponnese.

In this ENC Analysis, Dr. Manoli discusses the EaP’s implementation during periods of protracted volatility, putting a focus on the progress marked and its key drivers. The paper also contributes to the discussion of the direction that the EaP policy should take in light of a worsening regional security complex.

The full analysis is available here.

ENC Analysis – EU, Prevention of Violent Extremism (PVE) and civil society: some considerations on the IcSP in Kyrgyzstan

The European Neighbourhood Council (ENC) released its new analysis on “EU, Prevention of Violent Extremism (PVE) and civil society: some considerations on the IcSP in Kyrgyzstan“.

This article is written by our academic council member Dr. Chiara Pierobon, a postdoctoral researcher at Bielefeld University (Germany) and an associate research fellow at the OSCE Academy in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan).

In this ENC analysis, Dr. Pierobon analyses the main forms of engagement for which Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) receive funding from the Instrument contribution to Stability and Peace (IcSP) and its programme “Strengthening Resilience to Violent Extremism” (STRIVE) in Kyrgyzstan.

The full analysis is available here.

ENC Study: Socio-economic Impact of COVID-19 and Media Consumption among Vulnerable Communities in Central Asia

Central Asia has faced significant challenges during COVID-19, particularly among vulnerable communities who have been disproportionately affected by the economic and social impact of the pandemic. A new report from the European Neighbourhood Council (ENC) and Internews titled “Socio-economic Impact of COVID-19 and Media Consumption among Vulnerable Communities in Central Asia” sheds light on the impact COVID-19 on media consumption habits in the region. The report is part of the “Strengthening Resilience to Radicalisation and Disinformation in Central Asia through Independent Media (Phase II)” project, produced with the financial support of the European Union and implemented by Internews.

This study includes both quantitative data from a survey of nearly 2,000 participants and qualitative data from in-depth interviews conducted among 500 members of vulnerable communities and 120 content producers, including journalists and bloggers, across Central Asia. During the COVID-19 epidemic, the research study mapped the media and information consumption habits of vulnerable communities, such as labour migrants, refugees, stateless people, and racial minorities, while also identifying their vulnerabilities and risks of social isolation in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. 

Overall, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on media consumption in Central Asia. The first tendency is a rise in news consumption, particularly news on the pandemic. Both the demand for information regarding the pandemic and the general growth of public interest in news will probably continue to be higher than they were before to COVID-19.

The second trend is the link between the type of media and people’s perception of trustworthy information. Online media are viewed as a source of fake news by many media consumers. There is also a significant group of respondents who trust established news websites more than traditional media (because of association with government control) and social networks and messengers. The study argues that because the landscape is continually changing and becoming more fragmented, it is becoming harder to maintain a dichotomy between traditional and new online media. Consequently, it is necessary to break online media into other groups in order to better understand how trust is perceived rather than classifying it as one form of media. 

Finally, the COVID-19 crisis has exposed the problem of fake news dissemination, and there is no consensus on what makes news “fake” and how to best distinguish between false and accurate information. Content producers use techniques like fact-checking, but consumers often have opposing views on what makes news “fake”. False information can spread quickly through a variety of media channels, including social media and online messaging services, which are challenging to regulate. This creates a major challenge for governments and media producers to effectively address the problem of fake news and information manipulation.

The full study is available here for those interested in getting comprehensive information on each Central Asian state (Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan) and the impact of pandemic among vulnerable communities. This study also provides recommendations on how to address the impact of the pandemic on media consumption habits, support vulnerable communities and tackle the spread of fake news for governments, international donor communities, non-governmental organisations, policy-makers and media producers. 

Tab to download the report (English), Executive summary (English) and Infographics (English)

Tab to download the report (Russian), Executive summary (Russian) and Infographics (Russian)

ENC Analysis-Religious soft power in the South Caucasus: The influence of Iran and Turkey

The European Neighbourhood Council (ENC) released its new analysis entitled “Religious soft power in the South Caucasus: The influence of Iran and Turkey“

This ENC Analysis is authored by Dr. Ansgar JÃdicke, ENC Academic Council Member, and focuses on the changing geopolitical situation for Iran and Turkey, the impact in South Caucasus as well as the question of how these competing geopolitical influences work in the realm of religiously based soft power.

The full analysis is available here.

The Future of Europe and Turkey

The European Neighbourhood Council (ENC) has published its latest booklet entitled “The Future of Europe and Turkey”. This publication, which was produced with the financial support of the Delegation of the European Union to Turkey, Friedrich Naumann Stiftung (FNF) and Economic Development Foundation (IKV), is part of the ENC Training and Public Lecture Programme in Brussels and in Turkey.

The booklet, which was co-edited by Samuel Doveri Vesterbye, ENC Managing Director and Andreas Marazis, ENC Head of Research for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, includes forewords by Ambassador Christian Berger, Head of Delegation of the European Union to Turkey and Faruk Kaymakci, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Director for EU Affairs.

The publication presents innovative perspectives on some of the most pressing challenges that characterise the current state of affairs of EU’s foreign policy and its Global Strategy, namely data privacy, which Dr. Ronald Meinardus (Head of Friedrich Naumann Stiftung Turkey Office) declares to be the “major concern of governments, civil society and citizens in all parts of the world”. Technology and digital innovation are also highlighted throughout the booklet as imminent priorities to look out for in the future of Europe.

The future of EU-Turkey relations is examined critically by prominent experts on the subject, such as Ayhan Zeytinoglu (IKV Chairman) and Samuel Doveri Vesterbye. The authors offer a reflection on the main challenges and opportunities of the Turkish membership perspective but also on the visions of the EU across the country and the world. Despite the recent ups and downs between Turkey and the EU, Mr. Zeytinoglu argues that “it is still possible to make a new beginning”.

More than 3.000 copies of the ENC booklet were distributed among university students, academic staff, and governmental and non-governmental partners in Turkey. The project equally disseminated the publication online and offline during a dissemination lecture series with local partners, including outreach to student groups and university faculties across Turkey.

The ENC Booklet “The Future of Europe and Turkey”  is available in English and Turkish:

The Future of Europe and Turkey (English version)

The Future of Europe and Turkey (Turkish version)

ENC Analysis: In favour of censorship & propaganda: Elites, media capture & the journalistic profession in the WB

The European Neighbourhood Council (ENC) released its new analysis entitled “In favour of censorship and propaganda: Elites, media capture and the journalistic profession in the Western Balkans (the case of Serbia)”.

The ENC Analysis is written by Prof. Branislav Radeljić, ENC Academic Council Member and Director of Internationalization at Necmettin Erbakan University. In his paper, Dr. Radeljić uses Serbia as a case-study to describe the behaviour of political and economic power structures towards the media sector, as well as the decision of numerous journalists to embrace self-censorship due to external and in-house pressures. He argues that along with the different regimes, journalists themselves should also be blame for the precarious status of the journalistic profession. By ignoring ethics and codes of conduct in the face of government propaganda and highly problematic agendas, journalists have simultaneously contributed to the erosion of their own profession. The piece likewise suggests that international state and non-state actors can only provide evaluations and recommendations, but not the solution to the media crisis in Serbia and the regime’s preference for authoritarian rule.

The full analysis is available here.