To advance in their European integration path, Western Balkan candidate countries must ensure media freedom and pluralism. For Montenegro and North Macedonia, this means moving beyond formal commitments and proving through concrete actions that democratic reforms are more than words on paper

EU pre-accession support to the Western Balkans includes a component of transnational and cross-border cooperation, which helps create long-lasting professional networks among EU candidate countries and member states. An interview

To protect the marine ecosystems of the Adriatic, concrete policies are needed, shared by all the countries bordering this sea. Often, these results are achieved thanks to bottom-up transnational cooperation initiatives. An interview

In the Southern Adriatic, cross-border cooperation provides essential value added for protecting biodiversity. Shared and coordinated conservation actions between multiple countries are a strategic response to environmental challenges that transcend political boundaries

Journalists across Europe are often subjected to subtle forms of pressure and intimidation, including vexatious lawsuits frequently initiated by influential politicians or businesspeople. Blerjana Bino, Executive Director of SCiDEV and Researcher at the SafeJournalists Network, provides insight into the situation in the country

Amid a systematic erosion of editorial independence by the government, stronger international support is needed to uphold media freedom in the country. An interview with Igor Božić, news director of the independent N1 TV

To contribute to the European Commission’s Rule of Law monitoring, OBCT, in partnership with SCiDEV and IJAS, produced two Shadow Reports outlining the challenges and gaps in media freedom in Albania and Serbia. The main findings were presented during a webinar

Media outlets in the country are increasingly exposed to cyber attacks, online threats and manipulations. We talked about digital security and its impact on independent journalism in Serbia with Bojan Perkov, digital policy coordinator at SHARE Foundation

Increasing political and financial pressure threatens the independence and editorial autonomy of many media outlets in Serbia. We interviewed Irina Milutinović, Senior Research Associate at the Institute of European Studies in Belgrade and co-author of the Country Report on Serbia of the Media Pluralism Monitor 2023

For citizens of border areas, accessing quality healthcare services can be difficult. Cross-border cooperation, also thanks to EU cohesion policy, can be effective in guaranteeing the right to health for all. An interview

The management of European funds is an often complex task that requires specific administrative and technical-financial skills. For accession countries such as Serbia, preparation to the negotiation stage is key

Serbia has not yet opened Chapter 22 of the EU accession negotiations on regional policy and coordination of structural instruments. For the European Commission, the lack of an institutional framework and administrative capacities in key institutions remains the main obstacle

Since the beginning of the year, the European consortium Media Freedom Rapid Response has recorded 34 cases of violation of press freedom in Italy, including assaults, verbal attacks, and strategic lawsuits. We talked about it with Rossella Puccio, an independent journalist who was the victim of attacks and intimidation

The start-up sector in Albania is relatively young, yet it has big innovation potential, especially in the ICT industry. An interview with Arjan Ymer, director of the business incubator Oficina

Nata come gruppo civico informale, O2 Inicijativa è diventata una delle associazioni ecologiste più influenti della Macedonia del Nord. Ne abbiamo parlato con Ellie Peseva, giornalista e attivista ambientale

Eko Straza is one of the civic initiatives that with activism and protests across the country has contributed most to bringing environmental issues to the centre of public and political debate in Serbia. We interviewed Stanislav Vuckovic, an activist of the group

Innovation clusters that involve relevant stakeholders, from public authorities to the private sector and academia are key to reducing brain drain and promoting local development. We talked about it with Jolta Kacani, professor at the University of Tirana

An assembly of citizens in BiH has proposed a way out of the age-old problem of constitutional reform, pending for years after the Sejdic-Finci ruling of 2009. An interview with Nenad Stojanovic

The Resource Centre for Public Participation is an NGO that seeks to promote citizens’ participation in the decision-making process. This is particularly difficult in Romania. We interviewed director Oana Preda

Through transnational political activism, social actors contribute to deepening democratic processes on a European level, also in the environmental sector. An interview with Aron Buzogány, professor for political science at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna