Institute for European Affairs

The Institute for European Affairs (Institut za evropske poslove, IEA) is an independent, non-governmental, non-partisan organisation based in Belgrade, Serbia. It was founded on 23 April 2010 as the Youth Education Committee (Omladinski odbor za obrazovanje) by a group of young professionals reacting to a formal education system they saw as dominated by national narratives that hindered reconciliation and critical thinking. In 2015, after strategic planning, the organisation changed its name to the Institute for European Affairs and expanded its activities from one to four programmes: human and minority rights, public accountability, regional reconciliation and cooperation, and the fight against violent extremism. The Institute strongly supports Serbia's membership in the European Union and promotes the ideas and values on which the EU is based, including human dignity, human rights and minority rights, freedom, democracy, the rule of law, peace, prosperity, and the fight against social exclusion and discrimination. It also contributes to the general debate on NATO membership. Its work focuses on monitoring Serbia's accession negotiations with the EU and strengthening the capacities of all those involved in the Euro-Atlantic integration process. Given the complexity and long duration of these processes, the Institute brings together a large number of expert associates with whom it organises trainings, debates, and other forms of professional development. Since its foundation, the Institute has implemented dozens of programmes for professionals from Serbia, the Western Balkans, and EU countries. It conducts public opinion research on key political issues, including citizens' attitudes towards the European Union, NATO, the United States, Russia, Kosovo, and China. It publishes analyses and publications and advocates for greater transparency of institutions. The Institute is a member of the National Convention on the European Union, working in groups responsible for negotiating chapters 25, 26, 30, 31, and 35, and is also a member of NAPOR and KOMS. It contributes to annual reporting on human rights, democracy, civil liberties, and public accountability published by the European Commission, the US State Department, and the UK Foreign Office. The Institute is funded from multiple sources, including donations from domestic and international governmental organisations, international organisations, private foundations and companies, membership fees, citizen donations, and income from legally defined profitable activities such as organising educational programmes. Donors have included the governments of Serbia, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, the UK, and the US, as well as private foundations such as RBF, and international organisations including the EU, NATO, BTD, CRD, GIZ, USAID, OSCE, UNDP, and RYCO. Since its founding, Naim Leo Beširi has served as executive director; the Institute's Assembly re-elected him for a third five-year term in 2020. Over twelve years, the Institute has had 22 employees and over 200 consultants engaged on various bases, with more than 10,000 primary and secondary school pupils, students, young professionals, teachers, lawyers, prosecutors, and police officers participating directly or indirectly in its projects, mostly from Serbia and Kosovo, but also from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, France, Germany, Poland, and Switzerland. Relative to its size and annual budget, it is one of the most cited civil society organisations in media and academic texts. Due to its work on reconciliation between Serbs and Albanians, Bosniaks, and Croats, as well as its clear positions on the wars of the 1990s, the NATO bombing, and relations with Russia, the Institute and its director have often been targeted by ultra-right organisations, as well as by certain media and politicians, and have faced political sabotage.

The Institute for European Affairs was founded on 23 April 2010 as the Youth Education Committee (Omladinski odbor za obrazovanje) by a group of young professionals: Jelisaveta Belić, Ivan Grahek, Petar Čekerevac, Milan Škobić, Aleksandar Zlatić, and Naim Leo Beširi, who has served as executive director since 2010. The founders were reacting to a formal education system that they saw as dominated by national narratives, which they believed prevented reconciliation and hindered critical thinking. The initial projects focused on regional reconciliation and access to public institutions for young people from minority communities in Serbia. In 2015, after a long period of strategic planning, the organisation changed its name to the Institute for European Affairs and expanded its field of activity from one to four programmes: human and minority rights, public accountability, regional reconciliation and cooperation, and the fight against violent extremism. At the same time, it changed its media strategy and began publicly stating its positions through its work, press releases, analyses, publications, and public opinion research results on six key political issues: the attitudes of Serbian citizens towards the European Union, NATO, the United States, Russia, Kosovo, and China. Since its foundation, the Institute has implemented dozens of programmes for professionals from Serbia, the Western Balkans, and EU countries. It focuses on monitoring Serbia's accession negotiations with the EU and, given the complexity and long duration of the process, brings together a large number of experts. It organises trainings, debates, and other professional development activities to contribute to a better understanding of the integration process. It provides multi-perspective information on integration to enable citizens to make informed decisions and to better understand the complexity of EU membership. The Institute advocates for speeding up Serbia's integration into the EU and contributes to the general debate on EU and NATO membership. In cooperation with state institutions, it works on strengthening Serbia's capacity to face the challenges of the global world through collective action. The overall objective is Serbia's full active membership in the EU and NATO. Over the twelve years following its founding, the Institute had 22 employees and over 200 consultants engaged on various bases. More than 10,000 primary and secondary school pupils, students, young professionals, teachers, lawyers, prosecutors, and police officers participated directly or indirectly in its projects, mostly from Serbia and Kosovo, but also from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, France, Germany, Poland, and Switzerland. Relative to its size and annual budget, the Institute is one of the most cited civil society organisations in media and academic texts. Because of its work on reconciliation between Serbs and Albanians, Bosniaks, and Croats, as well as its clear positions on the wars of the 1990s, the NATO bombing, and relations with Russia, the Institute and its director have often been targeted by ultra-right organisations, as well as by certain media and politicians, and have faced political sabotage. The Institute is a member of the National Convention on the European Union, working in groups responsible for negotiating chapters 25, 26, 30, 31, and 35. It is also a member of NAPOR and KOMS. Independently and with other organisations, it contributes to annual reporting on the state of human rights, democracy, civil liberties, and public accountability published by the European Commission, the US State Department, and the UK Foreign Office. From its founding, the Institute has been funded from multiple sources: donations from domestic and international governmental organisations, international organisations, private foundations and companies, membership fees, citizen donations, and income from legally defined profitable activities such as organising educational programmes. Some donors include the governments of Serbia, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, the UK, and the US; private foundations such as RBF; and international organisations including the EU, NATO, BTD, CRD, GIZ, USAID, OSCE, UNDP, and RYCO. Naim Leo Beširi, a graduate political scientist, has been executive director since the founding. The Institute's Assembly elected him for a third consecutive five-year term in 2020 in Belgrade. Before the Institute, he worked at the Anti-Corruption Agency, the Centre for Euro-Atlantic Studies, the OSCE Mission to Serbia, and the marketing firm Kreativa New Formula, and began his career at the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia.

• Founded as the Youth Education Committee (Omladinski odbor za obrazovanje) by a group of young professionals.

• Renamed to Institute for European Affairs and expanded from one to four programmes.

• Naim Leo Beširi re-elected for a third consecutive five-year term as executive director.

• Board member and human rights activist Nebojsa Tasic passed away.

• Published public opinion research on attitudes of Serbian citizens towards the European Union.

• Published public opinion research on attitudes of Serbian citizens towards Russia.

• Joined joint press statement of CSOs in Serbia expressing solidarity with Women in Black.

Independent, non-governmental, non-partisan think tank and civil society organisation advocating European values and Serbia's EU and NATO integration.

• Public opinion research on Serbia's citizens' attitudes towards the EU, NATO, the US, Russia, Kosovo, and China

• Trainings for civil servants

• Debates on Serbia's European future

• Analyses and publications on EU accession

1. 1Institute for European Affairs |iea.rs
2. 2About us - Institute for European Affairsiea.rs
3. 3Institute for European Affairs - Wikidatawikidata.org
4. 4Institut za evropske poslove - Wikipediasr.wikipedia.org