The New Lines Institute in the US is launching the “Western Balkans Observatory” with the goal to provide “rigorous, non-partisan analysis for policymakers” in the West. The experts behind the initiative warn that the Western Balkans are “inching closer than ever to a return to the political violence, ethnic cleansing, and mass migration that plagued the region following the dissolution of the Yugoslav Federation”, and that policymakers in Brussels and Washington, “who once played a pivotal role in brokering and implementing peace deals in the Balkans, have had their attention diverted to new and looming crises”.

The Western Balkans Observatory is also on Tuesday publishing its first multiauthor report, covering the rise of the far right in the Balkans, the influence of Russia and Turkey in the region’s politics, and the rapidly declining security situation between Serbia and Kosovo, among other topics.

A panel event will take place in Washington, Massachusetts, which will feature two of the report's authors in conversation with Professor Tanya Domi, a Senior Nonresident Fellow at the Institute who lectures at Columbia University and brings extensive academic and government experience working on the Balkans.

The panel will feature Dr. Azeem Ibrahim, OBE, Senior Director at the New Lines Institute, Reuf Bajrovic, fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, Ivana Stradner, research fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies and Dr. Daniel Serwer, professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.