According to Serbian Economist, the American conservative organization CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference), which has close ties to the U.S. Republican Party and President Donald Trump’s political circle, will hold the first CPAC Balkans conference in Belgrade from November 18 to 21, 2026. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić will be the keynote speaker at the event.
This will be the first time the conference is held in Southeast Europe, and it will bring together conservative politicians, representatives of civil society organizations, experts, and supporters of right-wing political movements from the Balkan states. The organizers intend to discuss issues of national sovereignty, economic policy, free enterprise, traditional values, and international cooperation.
One of the central themes will be energy security in the Balkan region. According to CPAC, increased supplies of American energy resources could help diversify energy imports and reduce the Balkan states’ dependence on individual suppliers.
The organizers view the United States as a potential partner for countries in the region in ensuring energy independence. Discussion of this issue is of particular importance for Serbia, which continues to diversify its natural gas supply sources and develop energy cooperation with foreign partners.
CPAC Chairman Matt Schlapp stated that the organization welcomes the holding of the first Balkan conference in Serbia. He highlighted the role of Aleksandar Vučić in developing strategic cooperation between Belgrade and Washington and expressed satisfaction with his upcoming speech.
According to Schlapp, conservative political movements have achieved significant success in North and South America, as well as in Japan. The organizers expect that hosting CPAC Balkans will help expand the international networks of European conservative organizations.
CPAC has already held international conferences in Hungary, Japan, Brazil, Mexico, Australia, Israel, Argentina, Paraguay, Poland, the United Kingdom, and Italy. The Belgrade meeting will mark the next step in expanding the organization’s international network.
The choice of Serbia as the conference venue reflects the desire of American conservative circles to expand their political presence in the Balkans and strengthen ties with the leadership of countries in the region.
The names of the remaining participants and the detailed conference program have not yet been published. The organizers promise to release them in the coming weeks.
CPAC is not a U.S. government agency or an official body of the Republican Party, although its events are traditionally attended by leading figures from the American political right, including Donald Trump.
Regional elections in Germany on September 20 demonstrated the weakening positions of traditional parties and the further fragmentation of the German electorate: Alternative for Germany (AfD) won in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, while in Berlin the Left took first place, according to an analysis by the Experts Club analytical center.
In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, AfD received 38.2% of the vote, compared with 16.7% in the previous elections in 2021. The Social Democratic Party of Germany received 35.5%, the Left — 6.5%, and the Greens — 5.7%. Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union received 4.9% and, for the first time in history, failed to cross the five-percent threshold in a state election.
The CDU received 13.3% in the previous election in this state, meaning it lost more than 8 percentage points of support. According to the preliminary distribution of seats, AfD receives 32 seats, the SPD — 29, while the Left and the Greens receive five each. Since the other parliamentary forces rule out a coalition with AfD, the voting result alone does not determine the composition of the future state government.
In Berlin, the results demonstrated a different political configuration. The Left received 25.7% of the vote, compared with 12.2% in the previous election. The CDU came second with 18.8%, AfD received 16.3%, the Greens — 14.3%, and the SPD — 12.1%. The incumbent coalition of the CDU and the Social Democrats lost its parliamentary majority.
Experts Club points out that the September 20 results continued a trend that emerged at the beginning of the month. On September 6, AfD took first place in the election in Saxony-Anhalt with 43.8%, while the CDU received 17.2%. In 2021, the CDU had 37.1% in this state, while AfD had 20.8%.
Thus, according to Experts Club, the results of the September elections should not be reduced exclusively to a movement of the German electorate in a single ideological direction. In two eastern states, AfD received the greatest support, while in Berlin the Left strengthened significantly. This indicates that some voters of traditional parties are shifting toward different alternative political forces depending on the region and the structure of local problems.
According to Infratest dimap, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern AfD managed to mobilize around 66,000 citizens who had previously not voted, as well as attract around 48,000 former SPD voters and approximately 32,000 former CDU supporters.
At the same time, the SPD’s result in this state is largely associated with the personal support enjoyed by Minister-President Manuela Schwesig. Almost half of Social Democratic voters surveyed after the election said that they would not have supported the party without her. This demonstrates the importance of the personal ratings of state-level politicians even when their parties have weaker positions at the federal level.
A separate problem for the CDU was voters’ perception of the party’s economic competence. Only 13% of respondents in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern named the CDU as the political force best able to solve economic problems. Some 89% of respondents also agreed with the statement that before the federal election the party had promised a great deal but delivered little. These results characterize one specific federal state and cannot automatically be applied to Germany as a whole.
In Berlin, one of the central factors of the campaign was the housing issue. The Left focused attention on rental costs, the shortage of affordable housing and regulation of the activities of large property owners. At the same time, migration and security remained among the important issues for AfD voters.
“These elections show not a linear movement of German society in one ideological direction, but a fragmentation of the electorate. In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, protest is concentrated around AfD, while in Berlin the Left became the main recipient of the protest vote and the vote of young urban residents. In other words, the common denominator is not ideology, but the declining ability of traditional parties to keep different groups of voters within the former model of the political center,” said sociologist and co-founder of the research company Active Group Oleksandr Poznii.
According to him, the mobilization of citizens who had not previously participated in elections is particularly illustrative. This may indicate not only a redistribution of the already established electorate, but also an expansion of the base of individual political forces.
Poznii also drew attention to the decline in confidence among some voters in the CDU’s traditional economic competence. In his view, for centrist parties the coming months will be associated primarily with the need to restore the confidence of different groups of voters, rather than only with personnel discussions.
Federal dynamics also demonstrate changes in party support. In the September ARD-DeutschlandTrend conducted by Infratest dimap from August 31 to September 2 among 1,319 voters, AfD was supported by 27% of respondents, the CDU/CSU by 21%, the Greens by 15%, the SPD by 13%, and the Left by 12%.
At the same time, state elections do not directly change the composition of Germany’s federal government or Berlin’s foreign policy. However, they influence the domestic political debate on the economy, budget spending, energy, migration and other issues.
The preliminary results of the elections in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Berlin were released on the night of September 21. The final results are to be approved after the electoral records are checked.
The material was prepared on the basis of a study by the Experts Club analytical center, “AfD won in Mecklenburg, the Left in Berlin: regional elections increased pressure on Germany’s traditional parties,” published on September 21, 2026. Experts Club study on Experts.news
According to Serbian Economist, the U.S. Embassy in Pristina has warned citizens about possible large-scale demonstrations on September 16 in downtown Pristina and other major cities in Kosovo. According to the diplomatic mission, the demonstrations could lead to road blockages, major traffic jams, and serious disruptions to public transportation.
U.S. citizens are advised to limit their travel and, if possible, avoid routes passing through areas where protests are taking place. U.S. government employees are advised to avoid any non-essential travel near locations of mass gatherings and not to send their children to school on September 16 due to likely transportation problems.
The heightened security measures are related to the expected September 16 ruling by the Kosovo Chambers in The Hague in the case of former Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi and three former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army—Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi, and Redžep Selimi. All four deny the charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
On September 12, a rally attended by thousands took place in Pristina in support of the defendants.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in February 2008, but its statehood still lacks universal international recognition. Serbia does not recognize Kosovo’s independence and continues to consider it part of its territory. Kosovo is also not recognized by, among others, China, Russia, and Ukraine, and within the EU—Spain, Greece, Romania, Slovakia, and Cyprus. The European Parliament notes that the issue of Kosovo’s status remains linked to the EU-mediated dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina.
https://t.me/relocationrs/3669
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ranked 21st in the 2026 ranking of the 50 most influential Jews in the world, compiled by the Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post.
In the overall table, The Jerusalem Post calls Zelensky “the Jewish face of Ukrainian resistance,” while a separate article about the Ukrainian president is titled: “The Jewish president who became the face of Ukraine’s resistance.”
The authors of the ranking note Zelensky’s role in leading the country during the full-scale war with Russia, advancing Ukraine toward membership in the European Union, and developing new approaches to warfare, in particular drone technologies.
The Jerusalem Post also draws attention to the Jewish origins of the Ukrainian president and repeated attempts by the Russian authorities to combine accusations of “Nazism” against Ukraine with the fact that its president is Jewish.
The publication recalls that Zelensky’s relatives were killed during the Holocaust, while his paternal grandfather fought against Nazi Germany during World War II. Zelensky himself has repeatedly said that his Jewish background is part of his biography but does not define his political activity.
Zelensky has repeatedly appeared in The Jerusalem Post’s annual ranking. In 2022, after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, he took first place, and the publication then named him the most influential Jew of the year. In the 2024 ranking, the Ukrainian president was in 23rd place. Thus, in 2026 he rose by two positions compared with the ranking two years earlier.
The Jerusalem Post gave first place in its 2026 ranking to Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. Every year, the publication includes politicians, entrepreneurs, scientists, public figures, representatives of the technology industry, culture and religious organizations who, in the editorial board’s assessment, exert significant influence on global processes.
Primary source — The Jerusalem Post, 50 Most Influential Jews of 2026 ranking.
The Serbian business publication Parametar has prepared an interesting analysis of the parliamentary elections in Serbia. President Aleksandar Vučić has called for early parliamentary elections on October 25. Serbia has 250 parliamentary seats to fill, but in essence, the campaign is turning into a choice between preserving the current model of government and attempting a political reset.
The main favorite is the “Aleksandar Vučić—United Serbia” bloc centered around the SNS. Vucic himself is running as a candidate for prime minister. According to the Serbian media outlet Parametar, his campaign will focus on stability, infrastructure development, investment, economic growth, and the argument that the country must not return to a period of political instability.
For the first time, the main competitor is not a traditional party, but the Student List, which emerged from the protests following the tragedy in Novi Sad. Its main themes are corruption, government accountability, the independence of institutions, and bringing new people into politics. The movement’s slogans are as simple as possible: “Students Will Win” and “Either Serbia or the Mafia.”
Part of the opposition has already decided to support the students, but there will be no single anti-government list. Running separately are the pro-European “European Serbia,” the “People’s Serbia” bloc, Ivica Dačić’s Socialists, and several national-conservative and sovereigntist groups.
The campaigns of the two main power centers are also divided by fundamentally different emotional agendas. According to sociologist and co-founder of Active Group Aleksandar Pozniy, Vučić will build his campaign primarily around the theme of stability—reminding voters of economic growth, large-scale infrastructure projects, an influx of investment, and the overall progress Serbia has made in recent years. This strategy aims to convince voters that a change in government carries the risk of losing the country’s hard-won achievements. The Student List, on the other hand, will appeal to the long-standing demand for fighting corruption and reforming the political system, contrasting the current elite with new faces unaffiliated with traditional parties. Thus, the election may largely turn into a clash between two basic formulas—“stability and economic results” versus “a change in power and the cleansing of institutions.”
That is precisely why the key question will be what voters deem more important: preserving economic and political stability or the demand for profound systemic change.
Parties representing national minorities will traditionally form a separate segment. A special electoral system applies to minorities: they are not required to clear the general 3 percent threshold, and when seats are allocated, their results are adjusted using a special coefficient. At the start of the campaign, the Union of Vojvodina Hungarians (SVM), the Bosnian parties SPP and SDA, representatives of the Albanian and Romani populations, and a number of small regional groups are expected to participate. Their composition may still change before the registration deadline.
Polling data so far is conflicting. Faktor Plus gives the SNS about 47% and the Students’ Party about 32%. An earlier CRTA poll showed the opposite picture—about 45% for the Students’ Party versus 36% for the SNS.
On international betting platforms, Vučić currently appears to be the clear favorite, but there is still a month and a half until the election, and the final list of candidates is still taking shape.
Read more at Parametar.rs.
According to “Serbian Economist”, Montenegro expects to join the European Union as a full and equal member and does not agree to a model under which new member states would be granted limited rights, Minister of European Affairs Maida Gorčević stated on September 9.
According to her, Podgorica is prepared to adopt additional safeguards against a potential democratic backslide following EU accession, but does not want to become a “second-class member” with limited voting rights or other temporary restrictions.
Various models for future enlargement are currently being discussed within the European Union, including the possibility of temporarily restricting certain rights of new members regarding the budget, foreign policy, or the exercise of the veto. Gorčević emphasized that Montenegro is prepared to accept the strictest mechanisms for monitoring the rule of law, but considers the equality of members to be a fundamental condition.
At the same time, Podgorica is trying to dispel Brussels’ concerns about possible vetoes in advance. Gorčević stated that Montenegro has no intention of using the veto as a tool for exerting pressure and sees itself rather as part of a group of small and predictable EU members, such as Slovenia, Malta, or the Baltic states.
Montenegro remains the most advanced candidate for EU accession in the Western Balkans. Negotiations have been ongoing since 2012, and all 33 negotiation chapters have been opened. Following the closure in July of the chapters on competition and the customs union, the number of provisionally closed chapters reached 18.
The government expects to close the remaining chapters by the end of 2026 and is aiming for EU accession in 2028. Back in the spring, Gorčević stated that the country’s goal is full membership, rather than an interim or simplified form of integration.
For Ukraine, Podgorica’s position is also of interest as a potential precedent. If Brussels does indeed decide to impose transitional restrictions on new EU members regarding the right of veto or other powers, such a model could potentially be applied to other Western Balkan countries that join later. This model could also be applied to other EU candidate countries.
