Balkans Parliamentary Project

Why?

The Balkans security landscape is delicate and fragile. It includes several unresolved conflicts, often in a state of suspended animation, with the potential to reignite, exemplified by the long-standing Serbia-Kosovo dispute. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and intensifying great-power competition has made the region all the more susceptible to external interference and geopolitical volatility.

While traditional security threats command significant attention,there is relative neglect of the diverse spectrum of non-traditional security challenges in the Balkans, from energy insecurity, to hybrid threats, encompassing disinformation campaigns, cyber warfare, and illicit financial flows linked to smuggling. These hybrid threats further compound the intricacies of security risks faced by the Balkans.

The ELN’s project has found that parliamentarians need more expertise, education and information-sharing to keep abreast of rapidly evolving security threats and to carry out effective scrutiny of security policy.

What?

In light of these complexities and emerging threats, the ELN Balkans Parliamentary Project carried out activities over a two year period to contribute to greater regional security and stability, through the provision of relevant research, analysing and sharing best practices in the governance and scrutiny of security, and by helping to connect parliamentarians in the region across borders.

The project began with a conference in the UK Houses of Parliament in June 2022, bringing together parliamentarians from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, and Serbia, along with U.K. counterparts.

In January 2023, a politically, geographically, and gender-balanced Steering Board comprising committed parliamentarians was established. The Steering Board advised on the organisation and themes of a roundtable on Regional Security Challenges and Cooperation in Southeast Europe in Belgrade, Serbia in May 2023.

How?

The project emphasises the importance of strengthening collaborative capacity among parliamentarians for security oversight, addressing comprehensive security issues including health, food, climate, energy, and illegal trade. Gender and geographical balance have been key considerations. Key findings from the meetings of parliamentarians have fed into a research report, along with extensive consultations and interviewees.