Western Balkans Cohesion Initiative

About this grant

The goal of the Western Balkans Cohesion Initiative is to promote a more informed debate on European and other international policies to help secure stability and prosperity in the region. To this end, the European Stability Initiative links practitioners and policymakers at local and national levels by helping translate on-the-ground realities into concrete policy recommendations.Funding will enable the European Stability Initiative to enhance research capacities of policy institutes in Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina; share lessons learned from European Union (EU) member-state building efforts in Bulgaria, Slovenia and Macedonia with the next wave of prospective EU members in the Western Balkans; and identify attitudes in Western Europe toward further EU enlargement and help Western Balkan applicant countries in shaping public opinion to support their EU accession bids.Recent accomplishments included organizing trainings, seminars and workshops in Macedonia, Kosovo, and Bosnia and Herzegovina for young analysts and practitioners; providing intensive training and consultation to three new think tanks in Kosovo and Macedonia; and preparing and disseminating social and economic analysis and linking such analysis to critical policy debates in the region.