KCSS Hosts Strategic Dialogue Roundtable on the Ukraine, Middle East, and EU as a Security Actor

KCSS Hosts Strategic Dialogue Roundtable on the Ukraine, Middle East, and EU as a Security Actor

Prishtina, June 3, 2025: The Kosovar Centre for Security Studies (KCSS) hosted a high-level roundtable in Prishtina with Professor Omar Ashour, a prominent scholar of security and military studies, to discuss the shifting geopolitical landscape in the Middle East, the war in Ukraine, and the European Union’s evolving role in foreign and security policy. The event, brought together diplomats, researchers, and civil society actors for a discussion under Chatham House rules.

The discussion highlighted the return of hard power in international relations and the growing pressure on the EU to act more strategically in its neighborhood. Participants noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin has no interest in peace, but seeks to prolong war and promote destabilization in US and EU’s areas of interest, including in the Western Balkans, shpwing the urgent need for sustained and increased support to Ukraine and pro-EU actors in the Western Balkans. Ukraine it was noted is in need of ammunition and defense assistance, which should be increased and provided without delay. Kosovo should also explore options to provide such support.

Participants also reflected on the EU’s shortcomings in its approach to Russia and the Western Balkans, arguing that policies of appeasement have failed and that a more assertive and normative European Union is required to uphold democratic values and stability in the Western Balkans. The conversation called for stronger internal cohesion within the EU on foreign and security policy, as well as the need to move beyond symbolic responses and toward concrete strategic engagement.

If this European Commission is a “geopolitical commission” as President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has publicly stated. In that case, the EU is already late in advancing accession of the Western Balkans, Ukraine, and Moldova in particular policy areas, such as cybersecurity, or screening of foreign direct investment, for instance.

The roundtable further stressed the importance of fostering alliances and for Kosovo, the conversation reaffirmed that keeping and deepening strategic partnerships, particularly with NATO, US and key EU member states, remains essential for its security.