It has become a corridor, the route thousands of refugees take daily from Macedonia through Serbia to the border with Hungary and Croatia. Beyond that lie Slovenia and Austria and finally Germany and Sweden.
The route has become routine, with welcome centres in tents where refugees are counted and fingerprinted before they get on buses which take them several hundred kilometres northward. Close to 300,000 have crossed the Western Balkans since the beginning of the year; more than 6,000 now make this journey on a daily basis.
In the meantime, fences are being erected and borders are being closed. First Hungary started blocking refugees from entering. Then Croatia and Slovenia followed suit. Should Germany or Austria also resort to such measures, a growing number of people – tens of thousands – are likely to get trapped in the Western Balkans at the outset of winter. Today, Serbia's capacity can cater for only 800 refugees.
This humanitarian crisis is leading to rapidly deteriorating relations between the countries in the region, with politicians eagerly channelling long-veiled animosities and gaining electoral wins though rough exchanges with neighbours.
The mini-summit called by European Commission President Juncker last Sunday agreed on a 17-point plan but did not give answers to the two big questions: how to help guard borders along the Balkan route and how to pay for additional refugee shelters and registration centres. It also skirted around the question of relocating refugees stuck in the Western Balkans.
CIRSD Vice President Participates at International Conference on Responsible Management Education
Belgrade, October 2025 — CIRSD Vice President Stefan Jovanović participated in the 12th Responsible Management Education Research Conference (RMERC), held last week in Belgrade. The event was organized by the University of Belgrade, Faculty of Organizational Sciences, and the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) Anti-Poverty Working Group, bringing together representatives from academia, the business community, and international organizations from around the world.
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Maria Fernanda Espinosa Calls for Stronger Preventive Diplomacy as the UN Marks its 80th Anniversary
As the United Nations commemorates its 80th anniversary, Maria Fernanda Espinosa, former President of the UN General Assembly and Co-Chair of the Global Preventive Diplomacy Initiative (GPDI), spoke to CGTN’s flagship program The Agenda about the urgent need to modernize the UN and make preventive diplomacy the central pillar of its peace and security agenda.
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CIRSD and NGIC Coorganize a High-Level Conference at the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna
Vienna, October 21, 2025 — The Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD) and the Nizami Ganjavi International Center (NGIC), convened a high-level international conference titled “Shifting Grounds: The Caucasus, Central Asia and Europe in a New Global Order”, in partnership with the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna.
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Vuk Jeremić Addresses the China Institute’s Thinkers Forum on the Future of the World Order
Shanghai, October 2025 — President of the Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD) Vuk Jeremić, took part in the Thinkers Forum organized by the China Institute, marking the jubilee 10th anniversary of this distinguished institution.
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