Author: OctopusInstitute

Policy Recommendations from the Octopus Institute Taulant Elshani Researcher 12/01/2024 In Serbia, President Aleksandar Vučić’s authoritarianism has now been consolidated to the extent that it is universally linked to the political and historical fate of the recent decades of the Serbian state. The concentration of power, manifested by media and civil society control, the subjugation of the opposition, strong ties with the underworld, electoral machinations (especially those of December 17th), connections with dictator Putin, and after the invasion of Ukraine, the West’s surprisingly tolerant approach to Serbian authoritarian President Aleksandar Vučić have turned the latter into a reckless political adventurer,…

Serbia’s chronic dependence on the Russian Federation: How Serbia is turning into a client and proxy stat Dependence in the inter-state and political context involves a wide and often intertwined spectrum of factors. As a multifaceted concept, dependency can be defined as the degree to which one state or political entity relies on another for political support or diplomatic cooperation. In the historical events in the Balkans, and especially from 1878 onwards, the special relations between Russia and Serbia have been decisive in the political fate of the latter, and have substantially shaped and influenced almost all the main political…

AUTHORS:  AGIM MUSLIU TAULANT ELSHANI Introduction Serbia, since the beginning of its state building, has been and remains an incomplete state due to internal political conflicts, which led to the contestation of all constitutions before their approval. None of the 15 constitutions to date has been accepted as stable, and could not be incorporated within the legal framework. The incomplete state implies the ambitions for territories and for regional hegemony that the political and social elite in Serbia still harbour. Serbia is actively working on establishing a Serbian World, an idea supported by the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Serbian…

Authors: Agim Musliu & Taulant Elshani The extreme right-wing has seen a consistent rise throughout Europe in recent years, resulting in a number of worrying trends and events. This research aims to analyze the factors that have led to this rise and the impact that it could have on European democracy and security. Right-wing propaganda has historically been more effective when there have been economic recessions. The recent Covid-19 pandemic, supply chain issues, and rising inflation, which have led to a difficult economic situation for millions of Europeans, have helped boost the rise of right-wing ideology in Europe. The economic…