GEO-POWER-EU PI Prof. Nikolaos Tzifakis Participates at the Annual European Tranformation and Integration (ETI) Studies Department Conference, College of Europe in Tirana

GEO-POWER-EU PI Prof. Nikolaos Tzifakis Participates at the Annual European Tranformation and Integration (ETI) Studies Department Conference, College of Europe in Tirana

Nikolaos Tzifakis, Professor of International Relations at the University of the Peloponnese and GEO-POWER-EU Coordinator, participated in the Annual ETI Department Conference held on 11 March 2026 in Tirana, Albania.

The Conference, organised by the European Transformation and Integration Studies Department of the College of Europe, brought together academics, researchers, and policymakers to discuss the theme “Strategic Autonomy Under Pressure: Can the European Union Enlarge in Times of Internal Transformation?” The event served as a key platform for examining the EU’s capacity to pursue enlargement amid significant internal regulatory and geopolitical shifts.

Prof. Nikolaos Tzifakis contributed to panel on Strategic Autonomy as Internal Transformation: What is the EU Becoming?, presenting his research on the EU’s ontological security and its evolving normative role in the context of enlargement and strategic autonomy. He also drew on findings from the GEO-POWER-EU project, highlighting evidence on economic interdependence between the Western Balkans Six and Eastern Partnership countries and external actors, and presented the GEO-POWER-EU interdependence index to illustrate key dynamics shaping the region’s integration prospects.