iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

📊 Database: shorturl.at/jaN2H 🔍 Indices:https://bit.ly/4rXfG8Y

020

3/3 Alexandra Bykova and Dr. Sonja Stojanovic presented the Database & Indices tracking external influence across the WB and EaP, highlighting how these tools can inform analysis and support evidence-based policy work, including the early identification of dependency risks.

120

2/3 Project's PI @tzifakis.bsky.social presented our recent study on EU enlargement reform, which proposes a three-track Council model ending blanket unanimity at intermediate stages, gradual integration tied to rewards, and no second-class membership 🔗 bit.ly/4y8KDcB

GEO-POWER-EU @geopower-eu.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

1/3 📢 GEO-POWER-EU presented its studies at the EU Commission, hosted by DG ENEST in Brussels on 29 September! 72 participants joined for a briefing organised by the European Neighbourhood Council on behalf of the consortium 🔗 bit.ly/4i813v5 🧵👇

121

📣 #GEOPOWEREU researcher Asuman Kübra Baș co-authored an op-ed w/ Dr Unai Gómez-Hernández titled “Don’t Put 🇹🇷 in the Same Basket as 🇷🇺 & 🇨🇳” Drawing on the Interdependence Database, the article highlights how 🇹🇷🇨🇳🇷🇺 differ in the WB & why 🇪🇺 shouldn’t treat them as one 🔗https://bit.ly/3U3qaXL

030

GEO-POWER-EU @geopower-eu.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

📚 New book review by #GEOPOWEREU researcher Dr. Valery Perry in @BalkanInsight. Reviewing Justin Gest’s Democratic Drain, Perry highlights why people leave their countries, not only for economic reasons, but also in search of good governance, human rights & justice. 🔗https://bit.ly/4rGmZSl

000

GEO-POWER-EU @geopower-eu.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

How can the EU reform #EUenlargement policy? #GEOPOWEREU report (D2.5) proposes: 🔹 A three-track decision-making model for accession talks 🔹 Gradual integration tying priority reforms to tangible rewards 🔹 Full legal equality for new members 📥 bit.ly/4y8KDcB

031

GEO-POWER-EU @geopower-eu.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

2/ Discover our research on: Corrosive capital & #disinfo in WB & Associated Trio: bit.ly/48rghX0 Economic convergence & #brain drain: shorturl.at/beJZb The EaP's relevance: shorturl.at/mk5F9 The gap between EU policies & expectations: shorturl.at/Nexwh

000

GEO-POWER-EU @geopower-eu.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

1/ 📣 #GEOPOWEREU research was presented at the 19th EISA Pan-European Conference on International Relations in Lisbon! 🇵🇹 Consortium members shared findings on corrosive capital, brain drain, and #EU 🇪🇺 #enlargement's impact on the Western Balkans & #EasternPartnership. More ℹ️🔗https://bit.ly/4xWRyFu

100

GEO-POWER-EU @geopower-eu.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

📣 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

000

GEO-POWER-EU @geopower-eu.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

3/3 Participants also tested StrategEUm—#GEOPOWEREU's serious game on European geopolitics, developed by Belgrade University Serious Games Lab. Their feedback will help refine the game ahead of its wider release. Stay tuned for its launch! Read more about the session🔗 bit.ly/4h2p8nZ

000

GEO-POWER-EU @geopower-eu.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

2/3 The session explored how the 🇪🇺🇺🇸🇨🇳🇷🇺🇹🇷 have recalibrated their engagement with the two regions since 2022, drawing on #GEOPOWEREU's Interdependence Database & indices. Participants then tested their assumptions against the project's findings.

GEO-POWER-EU @geopower-eu.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

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 @geopower-eu.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

📣 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

000

GEO-POWER-EU @geopower-eu.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

🎙️ 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

000

GEO-POWER-EU @geopower-eu.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

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

000

GEO-POWER-EU @geopower-eu.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

2/ Drawing on 10 focus groups with 75 stakeholders from public administration, civil society, and business, the study finds that #energy poverty is a structural condition shaped by socio-economic inequalities, regional disparities, and ageing infrastructure.

100

GEO-POWER-EU @geopower-eu.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

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🇺🇦.

100

GEO-POWER-EU @geopower-eu.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

2/ GEO-POWER Talks Ep. 6 & 7 on disinformation and corrosive capital as foreign influence challenges 🤝 3rd Consortium Meeting in Chișinău 🇲🇩 👩‍🔬 Researcher publications, events & media appearances ❓What’s next Subscribe →🔗 bit.ly/3R6fXVu

000

GEO-POWER-EU @geopower-eu.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

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

111

GEO-POWER-EU @geopower-eu.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

2/ Report shows that breaking the vicious cycle of brain drain and slow convergence requires coordinated economic💸, institutional and social reforms, supported by a more proactive EU 🇪🇺 accession strategy. 🔗 Read the full report: shorturl.at/beJZb

000

GEO-POWER-EU @geopower-eu.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

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

120

GEO-POWER-EU @geopower-eu.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

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

100

5/📊How the Index works Each country receives a score from 0–100.Higher scores indicate greater strategic autonomy & stronger institutional capacity to make independent policy choices. Scores are based on a combination of structured indicators&expert assessments,enabling comparison across countries.

100

4/ Societal autonomy – the extent to which public opinion, media narratives, and societal dynamics remain free from external influence.

100

3/ 🔹 Security autonomy – the capacity to formulate and implement defence and security policies independently. 🔹 Economic autonomy – resilience against external dependencies in trade, energy, finance, and critical infrastructure.

2/ What does the Index measure? The Strategic Autonomy Index assesses four equally important dimensions of resilience and independent decision-making: 🔹 Political autonomy – the ability to shape laws and public policy without undue external influence.

100

GEO-POWER-EU @geopower-eu.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

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👇

101

2/ Listen to learn more about foreign investment, political influence, and democratic accountability in Europe’s neighbourhood. 👉 shorturl.at/hraT7

001

GEO-POWER-EU @geopower-eu.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

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. 👇

101

GEO-POWER-EU Findings on Anti-European Disinformation in Ukraine Presented at Maynooth University - Geo Power

📢 GEO-POWER-EU researcher Dr. Yuliia Tarasiuk (ONU) presented findings on anti-European disinformation in Ukraine 🇺🇦 at a seminar held @maynoothuniversity.ie on 21 April, covering the Euromaidan period and Russia's full-scale war. 📊 🔗 shorturl.at/UHnFj 📄 Case Study: bit.ly/3ZzGHlp

shorturl.at

GEO-POWER-EU Findings on Anti-European Disinformation in Ukraine Presented at Maynooth University On 21 April, GEO-POWER-EU was presented at a seminar titled “Anti-European Disinformation in Ukraine d...

000

7/The report calls for mandatory beneficial ownership disclosure before concession awards,independent value-for-money assessments, and the EU engaging earlier, deploying #GlobalGateway financing on timelines that rival state-capital offers than reacting after damage is done 🔗shorturl.at/diI6N

010

6/Resistance from #CSOs and investigative journalists was sustained but constraine, courts sided with whoever held power. The airport was only recovered in 2023, after a decade of rent extraction and the political protection sustaining the deal had collapsed.

100

5/ The EU 🇪🇺 played a largely reactive role, no targeted intervention at the deal-design stage, meaningful pressure only after 2015 when tied to IMF conditionality, sanctions against Șor and Plahotniuc as late as 2022–23.

100

4/ What makes this analytically significant is its co-produced nature. #Foreign-linked capital did not force its way in, it was invited by domestic gate-openers who structured the deal to serve mutual interests: patronage, regulatory insulation, and revenue streams outside standard state channels.

100

3/Ownership quietly shifted to a Cyprus 🇨🇾 vehicle with just €1,300 declared capital, linked via investigative reporting to Russian 🇷🇺 corporate networks and figures alleged to have ties to Russian security services.

100

2/ The 2019 Parliamentary Inquiry Commission found bid clauses were kept secret, evaluators had conflicts of interest, and the €244 million investment pledge was financed not by the investor but by a €9 passenger surcharge the National Anticorruption Center labelled illegal.

100