The geopolitics of the green energy transition in the Balkans

24 May 2023 - Policy Dialogue organised with the Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group (BiEPAG)
Speakers: Dimitar Bechev, Lecturer, Oxford School of Global & Area Studies, University of Oxford and Visiting Scholar, Carnegie Europe; Florian Bieber, Professor at the University of Graz and Coordinator, Balkans of Europe Policy Advisory Group (BiEPAG); Nikolaos Tzifakis, Professor, University of the Peloponnese; Tena Prelec, Research Associate, LSEE-Research on South Eastern Europe, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
Moderator: Corina Stratulat, Head of the European Politics and Institutions Programme, European Policy Centre
The slow pace of the Balkans’ green energy transition is closely connected to the region’s energy insecurity and its dependence on imported and domestically produced fossil fuels, which perpetuate energy poverty and environmental degradation. Businesses that do not abide by environmental standards can keep investing in fossil fuels. At the same time, the energy sector remains dominated by public utilities plagued by inertia and reform aversion. These opportunity structures have been used by actors like Russia and China to pursue their own economic and political goals. A problem which has been further exacerbated by the war in Ukraine.
This in-person Policy Dialogue discussed the main features and trends of the Balkans’ energy sector based on research carried out by the Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group (BiEPAG) and in view of a public opinion poll on this subject commissioned by BiEPAG in all the countries of the region.