KAS Media Programme South East Europe

22/06/2026

🌍💻 The EU is taking a major step towards digital independence – and it carries significant implications for the media and democratic landscape in our region.

The European Commission published its European Technological Sovereignty Package on June 3, 2026 – an attempt to reduce critical dependencies. For South East Europe, building an independent tech stack means more secure digital infrastructures, transparent AI models and stronger defenses against online manipulation. As the region further integrates with the EU, moving away from monopolistic tech dependencies is vital for a free and independent media landscape.

However, a question remains: can policymaking match the speed of digital development? Critics warn that unless the EU accelerates the deployment of these sovereign tools, the gap between policy intent and technological reality will only widen. Furthermore, KAS Media South East Europe says that the pursuit of digital sovereignty must not come at the cost of compromises; it must remain firmly anchored in the core values the EU stands for – such as fundamental rights, data privacy, and the rule of law. Digital resilience cannot just be strategic – it must also be agile, fast, and remain value-driven.

Read the full European Commission communication here: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/communication-european-tech-sovereignty-accompanied-eu-open-source-strategy

The Commission is proposing the European Technological Sovereignty Package, marking a change in Europe's approach to its tech ecosystems.

10/06/2026

Media and Academia – A Difficult Relationship: how can journalists and academics work together to strengthen informed public debate?
On June 9-10, the KAS Media Programme South East Europe brought together in Tirana media professionals, academics, researchers, editors, journalism educators and communication experts from 12 different nationalities across Europe, Africa and Asia.
Topics we focused on are digital transformation, newsroom management, journalism education, academic freedom, and how should a truly global media-academia ecosystem look like.
The main conclusion: meaningful dialogue across borders and different fields is essential for strengthening independent media, academic freedom, and democratic resilience worldwide.

05/06/2026

📢 Reminder: Adenauer Scholarship Application Deadline – 15 June 2026

🎓The scholarship for the winter semester 2026/2027 is intended for B.A. Students in Media and Communication Studies and M.A. Students (enrolled at universities in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania and Serbia) of all majors with parallel proven engagement at a media outlet.

📧 Apply now at [email protected].

29/05/2026

The African Newspaper The Continent and the Georgian Coda Story launched something new together: The Atlas, a global newspaper delivered straight to your E-Mail inbox and on Signal, free of charge. 🌍 🗞️

This first issue covers stories that rarely make front pages in South East Europe. It includes articles about families sleeping on Chennai’s beaches as cities become unliveable from the heat, a US-Israeli airstrike that obliterated an irreplaceable Iranian library of 21,000 books, Georgia’s 540-day protest movement facing a new censorship crackdown and Iran’s creeping “internet apartheid”.

Already interested? Read and sign up here:
https://www.theatlasnewspaper.org/

22/05/2026

Congratulations to DARA and Bulgaria! 🎉 🇧🇬

DARA won the 70th Eurovision Song Contest with "Bangaranga", the first Bulgarian artist ever to claim the top spot. 🎤

It represents renewed visibility for Bulgaria whose musical heritage is often underexposed on the global stage. Romania finished third. The voices, sounds, and stories of South East Europe were watched by millions across Europe and beyond.

Eurovision brought an entire country suddenly on everyone's radar. A reminder of why the stories we tell matter and how far they can travel. 🌍



© Eurovision Song Contest 2026

15/05/2026

‼️ Applications for Adenauer Scholarships are now open ‼️
🎓 We have just started our call for the winter semester 2026/2027. The scholarship is intended for B.A. Media and Communication Studies and M.A. students (enrolled at universities in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Romania) of all majors with а parallel proven engagement at a media outlet. Apply now at [email protected]. Application deadline is 15.06.2026.

08/05/2026

🌊 The Growing Importance of the Black Sea: For a third year in a row, KAS Media Programme Southeast Europe gathered military experts, journalists, and intelligence experts. We analyzed the most pressing Black Sea security challenges for Europe, in the shadow of Russia’s war against Ukraine.

💡 From 6th to 9th May, Chișinău, Moldova became a hub for lively discussions. We explored how key countries in the region counter military and hybrid threats. We also heard the experiences of journalists covering military operations and examined how drones are transforming warfare as we know it.

🪖 We also had the chance to visit the Independent Engineer Battalion “Codru” of the Moldovian National Army.

04/05/2026

❗ Press freedom at a 25-year low. Here is how the countries in our region rank in the 2026 RSF World Press Index:
🇦🇱 Albania ➡️ 83 (80 in 2025)
🇧🇦Bosnia and Herzegovina ➡️ 90 (86 in 2025)
🇧🇬 Bulgaria ➡️ 71 (70 in 2025)
🇭🇷 Croatia ➡️ 53 (60 in 2025)
🇽🇰 Kosovo ➡️ 84 (99 in 2025)
🇲🇩 Moldova ➡️ 31 (35 in 2025)
🇲🇪 Montenegro ➡️ 41 (37 in 2025)
🇲🇰 North Macedonia ➡️ 45 (42 in 2025)
🇷🇴 Romania ➡️ 49 (55 in 2025)
🇷🇸Serbia ➡️ 104 (96 in 2025)
👉 Across the region, 6 counties are falling down in the index, reflecting the global trend. In fact, RSF warns that the average score for all 180 countries has never been so low.
📣 Free media isn’t optional - it is the backbone of democracy!

For the first time in the history of the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) World Press Freedom Index, over half of the world’s countries now fall into the “difficult” or “very serious” categories for press freedom. In 25 years, the average score of all 180 countries and territories surveyed ...

30/04/2026

🎙️ “When they tell me they have a problem with my freedom, I leave.”
🗓️ The KAS Media Programme Southeast Europe hosted its monthly scholars meeting with Kristina Atovska, award-winning journalist and filmmaker from North Macedonia.
🌐 The discussion focused on issues many journalists face today: how to sustain themselves financially while remaining committed to quality reporting.
💬 Kristina shared her experiences with job insecurity, editorial pressure, and why for many journalists, freelancing is not a choice but a necessity.
🧩 Topics included entrepreneurial journalism skills, the limits of crowdfunding models in the Balkans, and the growing impact of AI and copy-paste practices on trust and originality.

23/04/2026

We can’t fight hybrid threats by only talking about hybrid threats.

The KAS Media Programme brought together participants from 8 countries from South East Europe to Helsinki and Riga for a week of dialogue and exchange on Strategic Communication and hybrid threats.
By meeting with representatives of state institutions, as well as experts from the NATO Centre of Excellence for Strategic Communication and the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats, we gained first-hand insight into how Scandinavian and Baltic countries deal with the Russian threat.

The conversations we had here reminded us once again that resilience is built across sectors and borders - and that understanding different regional perspectives is key to strengthening our own resilience.