📣 New #GEOPOWEREU Case Study! 🇲🇰 Our report examines North Macedonia's €1.3bn Bechtel–Enka motorway project, showing how even legally compliant infrastructure projects can weaken procurement, oversight & accountability. 🔗 bit.ly/3U9gGtv

1/3📣Can games🎮 help us understand Europe's changing geopolitical landscape? On 15 July, #GEOPOWEREU researcher Dr. Gajić explored this question at the Summer School on Serious Games & World Politics in 🇭🇷 through an interactive session on the W. Balkans & Eastern Partnership

📣 GEO-POWER-EU research was presented at #ESSC2026 in Stockholm! 🇸🇪 Our panel, Geopolitical Power Europe: A Reality Check, examined how the EU's 🇪🇺 geopolitical turn is reshaping enlargement and relations with the Western Balkans & Eastern Partnership. More ℹ️🔗 bit.ly/4fybVB6

🎙️ In the latest podcast of our sister project REUNIR Horizon, Srdjan Cvijic and Tony Lawrence discuss 🇪🇺 European security, 🛡️ EU defence policy, and 🤝 EU–NATO relations in a changing geopolitical landscape. 🎧 Listen: lnkd.in/dzunpgKv

GEO-POWER-EU researcher Dr Tena Prelec visited 🇰🇿 in June, presenting project findings on corrosive capital & illicit finance at Maqsut Narikbayev University, in policy discussions 🤝 w/ 🇰🇿 authorities & 🇬🇧 Embassy Astana as well as at the CESS conference hosted by Nazarbayev University 🔗 bit.ly/4pb8MLI

1/ 📢 Can decarbonisation succeed where energy poverty remains deeply entrenched? Our new #GEOPOWEREU report examines the interconnections between energy security⚡, energy poverty 🏠, and EU 🇪🇺 integration in 🇷🇸 Serbia🇷🇸, Bosnia & Herzegovina🇧🇦, Kosovo🇽🇰, Moldova 🇲🇩, and Ukraine🇺🇦.

1/ Our 4th newsletter is out!🔗 bit.ly/4oZq6U2  What's inside: 
🔍 All 3 GEO-POWER-EU indices now live: Interdependence, Exposure Risk & Strategic Autonomy 📄 New reports & case studies on disinformation, corrosive capital, economic convergence, brain drain & green energy

1/ 👉🏼Based on 9,000+ survey📉 respondents and 10 focus groups across nine countries 🇦🇱🇧🇦🇽🇰🇲🇪🇲🇰🇷🇸🇺🇦🇲🇩🇬🇪 our report explores the drivers of #emigration.

1/ 📢 GEO-POWER-EU researcher Prof. Olga Brusylovska (Odesa I.I. Mechnikov National University) presented key project findings at the BASEES 2026 Annual Conference, hosted by the University of Birmingham and the University of Edinburgh

1/How resilient national decision-making processes to external influence in WB&Associated Trio?Our Strategic Autonomy Index examines the extent to which countries are able to make domestic policy decisions independently, highlighting both strengths&areas of vulnerability 🔗https://shorturl.at/wFwyT👇

1/ “We should not judge investment by whose flag is behind it, but by the way it is behaving and what are the consequences that are left after the investment,” — says Dr. Sonja Stojanovic Gajic, in our latest GEO-POWER Talks Episode. 👇

1/🆕case study👉🏼Corrosive Capital in Transport Hubs:The Chișinău Airport Concession. In 2013,🇲🇩handed 49year lease of its airport to a company incorporated weeks earlier,thru closed tender that violated procurement law, followed by decade of opaque ownership,foreign-linked influence& rent extraction.🧵👇

📢 Our consortium partner Democratization Policy Council has launched a new podcast: DPC Voice 🎙️ Hosted by Dr. Valery Perry, the series features conversations on democracy, governance, and global geopolitics — with guests from across Europe and beyond. Listen here🎧 bit.ly/4og8dzL

1/Partners reviewed progress, discussed upcoming work (co-creation studios, research, serious game, dissemination & others), and held a strategic foresight workshop on alternative geopolitical scenarios for the #WB and Associated Trio.

9/The conference brought together experts, officials,& civil society voices from 🇲🇩, 🇺🇦, beyond for a substantive discussion on EU accession, democratic resilience, & regional security.Many thanks to all speakers, participants& partners for their valuable contributions. 🇲🇩🇺🇦🇪🇺 Read more 🔗 bit.ly/4dZMedb

8/ Ana Negru (Platform for Security and Defence Initiatives) presented a study on democratic resilience across 🇦🇲, 🇲🇩 and 🇺🇦, finding that both countries have shown remarkable resilience but remain vulnerable. She stressed that democratic resilience must become systemic.

7/Dr. Iulian Groza(IPRE &REUNIR Horizon Project Consortium Member)underscored that security without integration amounts to exposure, while integration without security remains largely declarative. 🇲🇩 & 🇺🇦 require both processes to advance in parallel to strengthen the 🇪🇺 broader security architecture.

6/Eduard Tugui (Moldova's Ministry of Economic Development &Digitalization) highlighted that geopolitics is not just a challenge, it is also an opportunity. New 🇪🇺 frameworks on the Chips Act,critical raw materials, space &defence sectors are opening concrete entry points for 🇲🇩 accession negotiations

5/ Asst. Prof. Denys Kuzmin (Odessa I.I. Mechnikov National University) brought the Ukrainian perspective, stating that for Ukraine, EU membership is no longer simply a reform agenda — it has become a core part of national identity. 🇺🇦🇪🇺

4/The panel discussion, opened with Dr. Igor Munteanu,former 🇲🇩 Amb to 🇺🇸, who emphasized that EU accession is no longer technocratic process, but geopolitical one.He stressed that 🇲🇩 and 🇺🇦 are bound together, & distancing from the other would be neither strategically wise nor morally justifiable

3/ Valeriu Mija,State Secretary at Moldova's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, delivered his keynote, outlining Moldova's strategic goal of🇪🇺membership by 2030.He argued that EU accession and national reintegration should move in parallel and reintegration must not be a precondition for joining the EU🇲🇩🇪🇺

2/ GEO-POWER-EU Project PI Prof. @tzifakis.bsky.social set the tone by highlighting that "There is perhaps no better place to hold this discussion than in Moldova. This country stands on the front line of Europe's current security challenges, yet it advances decisively on its European path." 🇲🇩🇪🇺

1/On 3 June, #GEOPOWEREU held an event titled" 🇲🇩 and 🇺🇦 on the EU Accession Path amid War &Uncertainty".Dr.Liubomir Chiriac (IDIS "Viitorul")opened event noting that geographical integration&fight against 🇷🇺 aggression are interconnected processes essential to the security&democratic future of region

🎙️GEOPOWER Talks – #Ep7 is out🔗shorturl.at/hraT7 In this episode, @asumankubra.bsky.social is joined by Dr. Sonja Stojanovic & M. Țurcanu to discuss how foreign investment shapes governance, accountability& political influence—from the Chișinău Airport concession🇲🇩 to mining projects in🇧🇦

📣New #GEOPOWEREU case study: The Chișinău Airport Concession In this report, we examine how 🇲🇩's airport was handed to a foreign-linked company through a closed tender & shielded from oversight for years & how stronger transparency rules could have prevent it 🔗https://shorturl.at/diI6N 1/

🚨Upcoming Event #GEOPOWEREU will hold a conference on 3 June in🇲🇩, organized by its project partner IDIS“Viitorul”. The event will explore 🇲🇩&🇺🇦’s EU path amid war & uncertainty, focusing on the geopolitical pressures shaping their 🇪🇺 future Registration: shorturl.at/4h78a

1/ 📣GEO-POWER-EU researcher Asst. Prof. Tena Prelec joins Seriously Balkans Podcast to discuss corrosive capital in the Western Balkans, from Serbia’s 🇷🇸 lithium projects to Belgrade Waterfront in Montenegro 🇲🇪 and Vareš in BiH🇧🇦🎙️https://bit.ly/4dVqUoM

1/ What does it look like when Western-backed investment reproduces the same dynamics as the corrosive capital it claims to counter? Our case study on the Vareš mining project in BiH🇧🇦 examines corrosive capital — and what it costs when the source is a liberal democracy. 🧵👇

Our sister project REUNIR released a new paper on how the EU Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine (EUMAM 🇺🇦) must evolve for the 🇪🇺 to remain strategically relevant & strengthen long-term support for Ukraine. Read the full paper 🔗 lnkd.in/d3UCM4VG

1/ How does a regional leader spend 19 years attacking the EU 🇪🇺, while simultaneously demanding EU membership? Our case study on Milorad Dodik's disinformation campaign in 🇧🇦 reveals what that contradiction tells us about elite-driven information manipulation. 🧵👇