Democratization Policy Council

An initiative for accountable democratization policy worldwide.

[Democratization Policy Council @DPC_global]

Please note that DPC will no longer post on Twitter/X. You can find our latest updates on Bluesky or our website.

[Democratization Policy Council @DPC_global]

DPC Senior Associate @KurtBassuener joins a distinguished panel assembled by @GEOPOWER_EU to discuss the implications of Trump's policies for #Ukraine #Moldova #Georgia and the #WesternBalkans

Thursday, 4 PM CET, registration details below

[GEO-POWER-EU @GEOPOWER_EU]

Join our next GEOPOWER Talks session:
Navigating Security & Alliances: The New US Administration, Ukraine & the #WesternBalkans
📅23/01 ⏰4PM CET
Speakers @AmbDanFried Dr @AnnOsypchuk @KurtBassuener Dr @SeloSabic
Moreℹ️https://t.co/fNbr7DXi3G Session link🔗https://t.co/UST4eYBUiY

[Democratization Policy Council @DPC_global]

3/ ...structural democratic weaknesses and other topics, followed by recommendations focused on transparency and getting the money out of US politics that has enabled the erosion of America’s social contract.

[Democratization Policy Council @DPC_global]

2/ These 17 short, interlinked texts aim to set out themes and issues related to democratic unravelling - dynamics seen globally, but now increasingly evident in the US. They consider truth, the information ecosystem, street protest, corruption, self-dealing,...

[Democratization Policy Council @DPC_global]

1/ Following the US election, DPC’s Valery Perry has brought together thoughts based on years working on & studying issues of good governance, rights-based democracy, state capture & kleptocracy in the Western Balkans and beyond in a new long essay.

https://t.co/W55eCoRe9F

[Democratization Policy Council @DPC_global]

11/ Anything else would undermine the EU’s credibility and values even further.

[Democratization Policy Council @DPC_global]

10/ Those member states that resisted the European Commission’s push on Cluster 3 – including the three Baltic states, Sweden, Finland, and the Netherlands – should be appalled by von der Leyen’s political games and resist.

[Democratization Policy Council @DPC_global]

9/ They are eager to throw Vučić a lifeline in the midst of citizens’ protests.

https://t.co/h4wmRPoR1r

[Karl Nehammer @karlnehammer]

Serbia has made important progress in its EU accession process over the past ten years. For the third time in a row, the European Commission has recommended the opening of Cluster 3 in the accession negotiations with Serbia. I will be at the European Council tomorrow with my Greek counterpart @kmitsotakis to ensure that this progress is recognized.

Our stability and security is directly linked to the one of the Western Balkans and therefore one thing is clear: the EU is not complete without the Western Balkans. @avucic

[Democratization Policy Council @DPC_global]

8/ This is the moment chosen by EPP leaders – von der Leyen, PM Mitsotakis, Chancellor Nehammer – to push for the opening of Cluster 3 at today’s European Council – the summit of the EU’s national leaders.

[Democratization Policy Council @DPC_global]

7/ ...a report into the use of spyware against journalists and activists.

https://t.co/xKHVY6J0xp

[Democratization Policy Council @DPC_global]

1/ @EU_Commission President @vonderleyen told media after last night’s EU-Western Balkans Summit that on Serbia’s accession negotiations, the @EUCouncil “agreed to move forward on the opening of Cluster 3, the letter is sent.”

https://t.co/PEidVpfdAF

[Democratization Policy Council @DPC_global]

6/ @vonderleyen’s misrepresentation comes at a time when President Vučić is facing the biggest crisis of his long, autocratic rule, with rising waves of protests and accelerated regime repression against citizens. It also comes days after...

[Democratization Policy Council @DPC_global]

5/ The EU’s accession methodology is very clear: there can be no opening of new clusters in times of democratic backsliding. Progress on fundamentals is a precondition for accession negotiations to move to the next level.

[Democratization Policy Council @DPC_global]

4/ The Council conclusions state that member states would revert to the issue “on the basis of substantial further progress made by Serbia,” particularly on rule of law and political dialogue.

https://t.co/1B3MOIZygj

[Democratization Policy Council @DPC_global]

3/ ...the General Affairs Council’s conclusions on enlargement from Tuesday.

https://t.co/eVMo6Rro9w

[Democratization Policy Council @DPC_global]

2/ This phrasing is ambiguous but clearly leaves the impression that the Council had decided to move on Cluster 3 – a brazen misrepresentation of the Council’s position as unambigiously laid down in...

[Democratization Policy Council @DPC_global]

9/ …the threats to the Union’s existence as a liberal-democratic political community first and foremost originate not only from the outside or its illiberal minority, but from the lack of vison, focus, and political resolve of its liberal majority.
@MartaKosEU @kajakallas

[Democratization Policy Council @DPC_global]

1/ DPC is again troubled by the publication of today’s General Affairs Council conclusions in which language reflecting Croatia’s divisive, ethnoterritorial agenda in #Bosnia and Herzegovina is incorporated. These will be endorsed in the @EUCouncil this Thursday.

[EU Council Press @EUCouncilPress]

.@EUCouncil today approved conclusions on enlargement.

Read more 👇 #EUEnlargement

[Democratization Policy Council @DPC_global]

8/ Once again, EU capitals have proven that their post-February 2022 declaration of enlargement as a new geopolitical priority in defense of European values against a Russian aggressor has quickly deteriorated into an empty, values-freed exercise, and that…