At yesterday’s (June 30) meeting of the Peace Implementation Council Steering Boad Ambassadors (#PIC SBA), the successor to outgoing High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Christian Schmidt, was to be once again discussed and decided upon. 1/

Many questions about ongoing protests in Albania at today's midday briefing of the European Commission. Interesting to compare and contrast the Commission's clear and loud position regarding implications for Albania's EU path with its weak response to democratic backsliding in Serbia.

My latest guest blog for @biepag.bsky.social on how Europe+ can take the initiative in the #WB6 in the interests of these countries' citizens - and their own. www.biepag.eu/blog/europe-...

Europe+ Needs to Ensure Security in the Western Balkans – Including Its Own

Most Western Balkan leaders comfortably inhabit an indeterminate gray zone. They want the validation and benefits of being EU partners without paying the freight. In this sense, the entropy in Bosn...

biepag.eu

DPC's Valery Perry speaks with @pippagallop.bsky.social of @ceebankwatch.bsky.social in the latest DPC Voice, our new podcast, regarding the Southern Interconnection pipeline project, which has been aggressively pushed forward by the US. open.spotify.com/episode/6uug...

DPC talks with Bankwatch's Pippa Gallop - Zagreb

open.spotify.com

Latest opinion piece by Senior Associates @kurtbassuener.bsky.social and @tobyvogel.bsky.social: the EU should push back against a Trump-backed pipeline project in Bosnia and Herzegovina

EU should take a stand against Trump-backed pipeline in Bosnia

By Kurt Bassuener and Toby Vogel The European Union claims to support the green transition in the Western Balkans. So why is it about to give in to a US-sponsored pipeline project – the so-called Sout...

linkedin.com

We've been led to think that in an election 50%+1 represents a majority of preferences. Are there better options? In the latest episode of #DPCVoice, Senior Associate Valery Perry spoke w/ Peter Emerson of the De Borda Institute to try to answer this question. open.spotify.com/episode/0WHG...

DPC talks with Peter Emerson - Belfast, Northern Ireland

open.spotify.com

DPC's latest, by @kurtbassuener.bsky.social, on how Europe+ ought to respond to the challenge of succeeding High Rep Christian Schmidt in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It cannot simply be a personnel decision - it constitutes a strategic choice in a region where the EU has great leverage.

Kurt Bassuener@kurtbassuener.bsky.social · 3mo ago

My / @dpcglobal.bsky.social's latest for @balkaninsight.com.web.brid.gy on how Europe+ ought to respond to the challenge posed by a de facto US alliance w reactionary Bosnian & Balkan leaders, in the succession of High Rep Christian Schmidt. balkaninsight.com/2026/05/18/i...

1/Potez dolazi nakon mjeseci špekulacija da SAD o pritisku na Schmidta. To označava jednu u nizu promjena pristupa SAD prema BiH počevši od prošlog Oktobra sa ukidanjem sankcija osuđenom bivšem predsjedniku RS-a Dodiku, koji je i dalje de facto lider tog entiteta. www.oslobodjenje.ba/vijesti/bih/...

1/ Two days before his semiannual report to the UN Security Council, High Representative Christian Schmidt announced that he would be resigning his post as international High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).

1/ Resource extraction, particularly mining of critical minerals, has become an increasingly visible focus of external actors in the Western Balkans. @dpcglobal.bsky.social's case study on the Vares mining project provides a detailed look into the structural dynamics at play, domestic and foreign,…

DPC's latest argues that the people of Hungary, who shook off an authoritarian, Russia- and MAGA-aligned regime, deserve some introspection about what made Orbán's abuse of power possible – from the EU and from other pro-democracy forces. Business as usual should not be an option.

DPC is starting an occasional series of interviews with people who have interesting perspectives on democratic opportunities, democratic threats, effective governance, changing global geopolitics, and other issues.

Were the Trump administration’s actions in Venezuela the first chance to see what operationalization of the new US National Security Strategy looks like? Senior Associate @valeryperry.bsky.social talked about this with WXXI’s Evan Dawson, exploring the downsides of a “sphere of influence” approach.

What does American action in Venezuela mean for democracy abroad?

In the first hour of "Connections with Evan Dawson" on 1/8/26, a democratization policy expert discusses potential repercussions of the Trump administration's attempts to strong-arm other nations.

wxxinews.org

The latest from @dpcglobal.bsky.social colleague @valeryperry.bsky.social, on today's Putin-Trump meeting

Valery Perry@valeryperry.bsky.social · 12mo ago

As we wait to see what will unfold in Alaska today, beware of Sharpie geopolitics in a world that requires complexity… I explore this idea more in the latest DPC blog: www.democratizationpolicy.org/sharpie-geop...

"Vučić’s increasingly brutal repression of peaceful protests has put the EU’s policy at an inflection point..." Latest by @tobyvogel.bsky.social and @kurtbassuener.bsky.social for @euobserver.com www.euobserver.com/eu-and-the-w...

The EU's fence-sitting as Serbia's Vučić steps up violent state repression

The EU choosing “stability” in the current moment means de facto endorsement of violent repression in Serbia. The EU’s timid messaging has in fact encouraged Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić to step...

euobserver.com

1/ Another sign that voters in the democracies are repelled by what they see in the US under Trump. Democratic solidarity is not hubbed in Washington anymore. apnews.com/article/aust...

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wins a second 3-year term

Anthony Albanese has claimed victory as the first Australian prime minister to win a second consecutive term in 21 years.

apnews.com

1/ Canadians have demonstrated their commitment to sovereignty & dignity, but also the profound impact of Trump’s policy & rhetoric. www.democratizationpolicy.org/canadians-le...

My latest blog post for @dpcglobal.bsky.social - The Fear, Patronage, and Inat Politics of Trump 2.0 www.democratizationpolicy.org/the-fear-pat...

Alleged EU statements reported by Bosnian media that EUFOR cannot conduct arrests seem based on the EU's political narrowing of its Dayton Annex 1A & 2 mandate. The renewal by the UNSC is also clear - EUFOR has the authority to take "all necessary measures" to ensure a safe and secure environment...

1/ Latest article by DPC senior associate @valeryperry.bsky.social for @projectsyndicate.bsky.social, tying the Western Balkans to numerous processes and phenomena in the Trump 2.0 age: www.project-syndicate.org/magazine/wes...

The Western Balkan Bellwether | by Valery Perry - Project Syndicate

Valery Perry sees the region as a window into three interconnected phenomena that will shape Europe's near-term future.

project-syndicate.org

DPC's @kurtbassuener.bsky.social appeared with @jasminmuj.bsky.social and SNSD's Srdjan Mazalica on @aljazeeraenglish.bsky.social's Inside Story yesterday on RS President Milorad Dodik's challenge to the Dayton order and rule of law in #Bosnia. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Twi7...

What's behind the political crisis in Bosnia Herzegovina? | Inside Story

YouTube video by Al Jazeera English

youtube.com

DPC's blog on yesterday's ugly Oval Office spectacle and the importance of tomorrow's meeting of European leaders, with President Zelenskyy, in London. Europe+ must now be the universal connector of democracies. www.democratizationpolicy.org/the-twilight...

1/ Yesterday’s meeting between Ukrainian President Zelenskyy & US President Trump at the White House, in which Trump and VP JD Vance hectored Zelenskyy, who energetically refuted their false claims & emphasized his country’s need for security guarantees in any peace agreement,...

DPC condemns today’s raids against civic groups in Serbia as an attack on civil society. This blatant attempt at intimidation follows an assault by the Trump administration and Elon Musk on US support for liberal democracy around the world. We stand by the civic groups targeted by the Vučić regime.

CRTA: Policija došla u našu kancelariju, tabloidi objavili vest pre nego što se to desilo

Iz Centra za istraživanje, transparentnost i odgovornost (CRTA) potvrdili su da je policija danas došla u njihovu kancelariju, ali su i upitali kako su tabloidi tu informaciju objavili pre nego što je...

n1info.rs

Senior Associate @valeryperry.bsky.social appearing on #NPR affiliate WXXI's Connections with Evan Dawson on the tectonic shifts of the past month, both in the US' international posture and impact domestically. 👇

Valery Perry@valeryperry.bsky.social · last yr.

Great to talk to Evan Dawson (WXXI Connections) about the German elections, the shifts in the trans-Atlantic relationship, what Americans can learn from other societies that have experienced state capture & the corruption that comes with it. & more. www.wxxinews.org/show/connect...

The latest from us on the recent tectonic shifts and their implications. 👇

Democratization Policy Council@dpcglobal.bsky.social · last yr.

A blog with our collective assessment of European defense and democracy in the wake of Trump's confrontation with both - and the links to where the EU has the greatest potential leverage: the Western Balkans. www.democratizationpolicy.org/european-def...

A thread by @kurtbassuener.bsky.social on Dodik's challenge and why the EU needs to step up on deterrence in the Balkans right now. 👇

Kurt Bassuener@kurtbassuener.bsky.social · last yr.

A short thread on Milorad Dodik's latest threat - and what the European response needs to be. www.klix.ba/vijesti/bih/...

A blog with our collective assessment of European defense and democracy in the wake of Trump's confrontation with both - and the links to where the EU has the greatest potential leverage: the Western Balkans. www.democratizationpolicy.org/european-def...

1/DPC’s Valery Perry reflects on what the attack on USAID may mean for democratic development and governance not just around the world – but in the US itself. www.democratizationpolicy.org/to-strangle-...

1/ The events of the past week have crystallized a previously inchoate sense of foreboding into a recognition of a tectonic shift in transatlantic relations. The level of distrust in Europe toward the US is palpable, and the challenge recognized as existential.