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Dr Hoxhaj OBE gives evidence to Foreign Affairs Select Committee on UK strategy for Western Balkans
21 March 2024
Dr Hoxhaj OBE appeared before the parliamentary hearing on the UK’s strategy for the Western Balkans: spotlight in violence and instability in Kosovo and Serbia.
Image: Dr Hoxhaj OBE giving evidence in front of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee. He is sitting at a desk next to The Rt Hon. the Lord Robertson of Port Ellen KT (10th Secretary General of NATO from 1999-2004) and Ian Cliff OBE (British ambassador to Kosovo from 2011-2015).
On Tuesday 19 March, Dr Andi Hoxhaj OBE (Lecturer (Teaching) in Law at UCL Laws) appeared before the Foreign Affairs Select Committee to give evidence on increased violence and instability in the Western Balkans. The inquiry aims to assess the ongoing situation and threats in the region; the UK's policy response and relationship with the Western Balkans; and their NATO and EU membership prospects.
Dr Hoxhaj OBE discussed how the EU-facilitated Kosovo-Serbia dialogue process has stalled and Russia’s efforts to destabilise the Western Balkans to potentially start a new front in Europe to divert the attention of the NATO and EU members away from its war in Ukraine. Dr Hoxhaj OBE shared his research on EU policy towards the Western Balkans, with a particular focus on the EU enlargement and accession process with the Western Balkans, as well as what is causing the stalemate in the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue and preventing a long-term solution, and mutual statehood recognition.
You can watch Dr Hoxhaj giving evidence on Parliamentlive.tv. A transcript is also available on the UK Parliament website, and in PDF format.
Dr Hoxhaj was interviewed on BBC News, where he spoke more about the evidence he gave to the hearing with a focus on Russia’s influence in the Western Balkans:
Dr Hoxhaj OBE recently co-hosted a panel discussion on “Instability in the Western Balkans” in partnership with Chatham House, where he discussed some of the topics raised during the hearing:
Read more
- ‘Research project led by Dr Hoxhaj on Albanian migrants awarded UCL Public Policy grant’ – Dr Hoxhaj grant by the UKRI and UCL Public Policy
- ‘“The Western Balkans quest for EU Membership” – Dr Hoxhaj presented a paper at the Common Market Law Review 60th anniversary conference
- ‘Kosovo and Serbia in crisis talks as regional tension escalates thanks to Russian meddling’ – The Conversation article by Dr Hoxhaj
- ‘Serbia and Kosovo: why the EU is intent on resolving border tension stoked by the Ukraine war’ – The Conversation article by Dr Hoxhaj
- ‘Russia’s influence in the Balkans is growing just as the region’s fragile peace is threatened’ – The Conversation article by Dr Hoxhaj
- ‘A storm in the Western Balkans’ a panel discussion co-organised by Dr Hoxhaj and Chatham House