On 25–26 June 2026, the European University Institute welcomed more than 40 researchers to the Badia Fiesolana for the third edition of its workshop on contemporary political behaviour in Central and Eastern Europe. Organised by the Department of Political and Social Sciences and in the framework of the EUI's Widening Europe Programme, the two-day event brought together established and early-career scholars to exchange ideas on some of the region's most pressing political challenges.
Organised by Professor Filip Kostelka, the workshop featured new research on electoral behaviour, democratic resilience, political polarisation, and institutional change across Central, Eastern, and South-Eastern Europe.
A key objective of the Widening Europe Programme is its commitment to fostering collaboration across academic communities and this was also a defining feature of the workshop. Researchers from universities and institutes across the widening region presented their work alongside colleagues from institutions including Yale University, the London School of Economics, the University of Zurich, the University of Vienna, and the European University Institute, creating opportunities for dialogue across different national and disciplinary perspectives.
For Natasha Wunsch (University of Fribourg), the workshop helped participants "build a shared understanding of the challenges that resonate well beyond the region." She described the event as "two highly stimulating days of discussing all things Central and Eastern Europe, from vote choice to democratic attitudes and from constitutional preferences to protest movements."
One of the highlights of the workshop was the roundtable discussion on democratic erosion in Europe, held at the end of the first day. Hanspeter Kriesi (European University Institute), Milan Svolik (Yale University), and Natasha Wunsch reflected on the causes of democratic backsliding and the challenges facing European democracies before opening the discussion to participants.
Kriesi highlighted differences in democratic resilience across Europe, arguing that democratic institutions face particular pressure when they come into conflict with citizens' policy preferences.
Svolik offered a more optimistic perspective, noting that unlike authoritarian movements of the past, today's democratic backsliders rarely reject democracy outright. As he observed, "this is good news for democracy, because it means ideological alternatives to democracy have disappeared."
Wunsch explored the European Union's role in safeguarding democracy, examining the differing experiences of EU member states and candidate countries, and the tensions that can arise between the Union's goals of promoting both stability and democratisation.
The workshop concluded with the presentation of the Jacques Rupnik Prize for the best paper by a doctoral researcher. This year's award was shared by two EUI researchers: Nahla Mansour for ‘Number of votes and moderate/cross-ethnic voting: Bosnia and Herzegovina’, and Michal A. Pawlowski for ‘Malapportionment and electoral tourism in Polish parliamentary elections’, co-authored with Michal Tulwin.
"It was a particular delight to see these early-career researchers, who will soon be shaping the discipline, present ambitious and rigorous research on important topics related to Central and Eastern European politics," said Marta Kołczyńska, who served on the prize jury.
Participants also praised both the academic quality and collaborative spirit of the event. Tomáš Dvořák (Charles University) noted that he "especially enjoyed the roundtable discussion" and highlighted "the high quality of all the presentations," adding that "the friendly atmosphere and the beautiful setting of Florence made the event very enjoyable."
Neven Vutev (Sofia University, St. Kliment Ohridski) reflected on the workshop as a space where "a lot of papers were defended, opinions exchanged, valuable critique given and, most importantly, honest inputs and encouragement shared by peers with the sole idea of fostering mutual academic growth."
By bringing together researchers from across Europe to discuss shared democratic challenges, the third edition of the workshop once again demonstrated the value of the EUI's Widening Europe Programme in strengthening academic networks, supporting emerging scholars, and advancing research on the political dynamics shaping Central and Eastern Europe.