The Western Balkan region has played a significant role in European security for decades. But what is its current significance of Europe-wide and global security?
Tactics Institute considers the changing relationship between the EU and the Balkans in this webinar, highlighting the dynamics around the manufacture and sale of arms in the region. Powerful Gulf Middle Eastern states engaged in proxy wars have become the region’s leading weapons customers. Why does military procurement and investment take place from the UAE and Saudi Arabia particularly in the Balkans? What is the break in the chain of accountability that allows exports to be diverted to war regions? And what is the captive state phenomenon?
The webinar features Brigadier-General Metodi Hadji-Janev who is a military security analyst and an Associate Professor at the Military Academy General Mihailo Apostolski in Skopje; Ivan Fischer a foreign policy reporter and analyst writing for the largest Croatian daily, Jutarnji List; Aleksandar Srbinovski a journalist specialising in diplomatic, defence and security reporting in Macedonia and South-Eastern Europe
Brigadier-General Metodi Hadji-Janev is a TACTICS Advisory Board Member. He is a military security analyst and an Associate Professor at the Military Academy General Mihailo Apostolski in Skopje, of the University of “Goce Delcev” in Stip, and an adjunct faculty member at Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering, Arizona State University (ASU). Metodi specialises on legal aspects of countering asymmetric, cyber, and hybrid-based threats, with an emphasis on critical information infrastructure and critical infrastructure protection. He has served as a co-director of four NATO SPS projects at NATO’s Center of Excellence Defence Against Terrorism in Ankara (2011-2014) and as an academic course advisor designed for EUROCORPS in Strasburg (2015). Metodi is a graduate of the Macedonian Military Academy and the United States Air Command and Staff College. He also holds MA and PhD degrees in Law from “Justinian-I” in Skopje. In 2018 he was awarded the Legion of Merit Award by the US Defence Secretary, James Mattis, for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements as a Macedonian Defence attaché in Washington DC.
Ivan Fischer is a foreign policy reporter and analyst writing for the largest Croatian daily Jutarnji List, and the Editor-in-Chief of Alpheus in Sight diplomatic newsletter. In his analytical work he focuses on hybrid warfare and disinformation campaigns in a geopolitical context. He has contributed articles to several regional and international media outlets, including the Bulgarian Kapital and European edition of Politico. He is a Thomson Reuters Foundation and Robert Bosch Stiftung alumnus, and a regional coordinator for the Bosch Alumni Network. He has co-organised two regionally scoped international conferences dedicated to the Balkan Refugee Route crisis (2017) and Regional Investigative Journalism (2018).
Aleksandar Srbinovski is a journalist with over 15 years of experience in print and electronic media as a writer, photojournalist, and info-graphics expert. Aleksandar specializes in diplomatic, defence and security reporting in Macedonia and South-Eastern Europe. He has worked with Nova Makedonija, Newsweek, Europa, the Balkan Security Network Blic, Politika, University of Oklahoma, ABC News, Vecer, TV Sitel, Utrinski Vesnik and sports magazine Skok. He holds a BA in Journalism from the University of St. Kiril and Metodij, Skopje, Macedonia, and has continued his media training at The University of Oklahoma, USA. Eleni Panayiotou is a Media Professional with over 15 years experience specialising in online and radio journalism. Has worked in defence journalism for online media and was Project Co-ordinator for DefenceMatters.org.
