In 2022, after concluding a pilot project in 2021, the International Visegrad Fund (IVF) and the European University Institute (EUI) signed a partnership agreement to support and encourage early career scholars from Central and Eastern Europe to develop archival research projects using the primary sources held at the Historical Archives of the European Union (HAEU). The joint initiative gave rise to the International Visegrad Fund Research Grant Programme at the HAEU.
The Archives is pleased to announce the newest cohort of grant winners from the 2025 IVF call. They will receive funding to pursue their research at the HAEU in Florence, and will have the opportunity to participate in EUI campus life during their stay.
Kenan Hodžić, a recent PhD graduate and now assistant at the University of Sarajevo’s Faculty of Criminal Justice and Security Studies in Bosnia Herzogovina (BiH), will pursue the project "Perspectives of energy security in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region: European integration and energy policy-making". This work aims to investigate the perspectives of energy security in BiH and the Western Balkan region within the broader EU energy integration and policies over the last 70 years.
Valeriia Hutsaliuk, a PhD researcher at the Lviv Polytechnic National University, Institute of the Humanities and Social Sciences in Ukraine will examine "The (non-)normative power in the EU's environmental and climate policy towards Ukraine". In her work, she seeks to identify the effectiveness of the use of normative power in the EU's environmental and climate policy towards Ukraine, and to identify possible future scenarios.
Katarina Klimoska, a PhD candidate at Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, North Macedonia, will come to the Archives to consult sources for " Tracing the geopolitical foundations of European integration: Archival research into the early European project". This work aims to investigate the geopolitical foundations of the European project in the aftermath of the Second World War, and challenges the predominant economic or technocratic interpretations of early European cooperation.
Manjola Lumani Zaçellari, a lecturer at the Aleksander Moisiu University of Durres, has been awarded support for her project "Languages of integration: A historical exploration of multilingualism in the EU". This project explores the role of language policy and multilingual communication in building European integration from the mid-20th century to the present, and will examine how European institutions managed linguistic diversity, balanced national language interests, and promoted intercultural awareness.
Jakub Niewinski, a postdoc and university lecturer in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Zielona, obtained a grant for his proposal "Migration or integration strategies?" He will use archival resources to inform his analysis of migration and integration practices in EU member states, focusing especially on Germany, Hungary, Sweden, Italy, France, and Poland, while also shedding light on how member states and the EU address and communicate on migration and refugee issues.
As per the International Visegrad Fund grant policy, winners will receive their EUR5000 grant in two instalments: EUR2000 at the start of their project, and then the remaining EUR3000 once the recipient achieves publication of their findings.