Georgia’s path toward Europe is unfolding under conditions of deepening authoritarian drift. Drawing on original survey data and fieldwork, this paper examines how deficits in social and institutional trust shape democratic resilience, mediate EU democracy promotion, and condition citizens’ engagement with reform in a hybrid and geopolitically contested environment

Why does democratic reform in Moldova remain fragile despite strong support for Europe? This paper argues that a gap between social and institutional trust sustains hybrid governance and shapes how reforms and EU engagement are perceived, drawing on original survey data and analysis of EU-funded projects

This paper examines how persistent trust deficits and fragile social cohesion shape EU democracy promotion in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Drawing on original survey-vignette data from Sarajevo and Tuzla and process tracing of EU-funded democracy initiatives, it shows how low institutional trust, perceptions of elite capture, and weak local ownership constrain democratic resilience despite strong public support for EU integration