Uspon autoritarizma na Zapadnom Balkanu

After the fall of authoritarian leaders in the 1990s and the wave of change in the early 2000s – the fall of Milošević, Tuđman, the Đukanović transition, Gruevski – the region seemed on the path to stable democracy and European integration. But Bieber shows how competitive authoritarian regimes have instead taken hold: systems in which elections, multi-party system and opposition formally exist, but ruling elites use state resources, media and institutions to ensure lasting dominance, making real change almost impossible.

The author introduces the key concept of stabilocracy – an informal agreement between the EU and local leaders: the West tolerates the erosion of democracy, corruption and the suppression of freedoms in exchange for short-term stability (e.g. cooperation on the migrant crisis, the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue or the suppression of extremism). This pragmatics, Bieber writes, undermines the very values ​​that the EU promotes in the long term and prevents genuine transformation.

The book dissects in detail common mechanisms: control of media and public opinion, capture of courts and institutions, clientelism and corruption as a tool of government, manipulation of elections (financing, pressure on voters, media imbalance), selective persecution of the opposition and use of nationalism or identity conflicts to mobilize voters. Bieber compares the variants in different countries – from the long-term dominance in Montenegro and Serbia, through North Macedonia before 2017, to the specifics in Albania and BiH – showing how the same patterns are repeated despite different contexts.

The opening section with the ironic "Advice to the Balkan Prince" is especially strong - a sarcastic but precise guide to how to maintain power: control the media, weaken institutions, use the EU as an alibi, maintain the appearance of reforms without real change. Bieber doesn't just blame local leaders; shows how global trends (the rise of populism and authoritarianism) and the weakness of the international community (the EU's focus on stability instead of values) contribute to that process.