In 2001, kin-state engagement was welcomed by the Council of Europe as a novel form of minority protection. Even though it has been of paramount importance for protecting the identity and promoting the culture of many minority ethnocultural groups, in recent years kin-state engagement in Eastern Europe has evolved in ways that reveal its instrumentalisation. Not only does this instrumentalisation challenge the European minority protection framework, but it has also become a matter of international security. Against this backdrop, this triple panel organised by the KINPOL Observatory on Kin-state Policies (University of Glasgow) brings together scholars to discuss recent changes in kin-state politics. The papers examine the nature, scope, justifications and limits of kin-state engagement, as well as the regional context which has altered kin-state engagement in Eastern Europe.

 

PANEL 1

CHAIR: Andreea Udrea (Royal Holloway, University of London)

DISCUSSANT: Magdalena Dembinska (Université de Montréal)

PAPERS:

David Smith (University of Glasgow, UK) - Kin-States, Kin-Minorities and Ontological (In)Security in Central and Eastern Europe

Erika Harris (University of Liverpool, UK) - Loss of territory, loss of dominance, insecure identity: theorizing the ‘shrunken’ state

Lara Sorgo (Institute for Ethnic Studies, Slovenia) and Boštjan Udovič (Faculty of Social Sciences, Centre of International Relations, Slovenia) - Perception of Kin-state and Securitisation: What do the Members of Italian National Community in Slovenia Think About

 

PANEL 2:

Chair: Mate Subašić (University of Liverpool)

Discussant: Andreea Udrea (Royal Holloway, University of London and University of Glasgow)

PAPERS:

Tamás Kiss (The Romanian Institute for Research on National Minorities, Romania) and Zsuzsa Csergő  (Queen's University, Canada) - The political economy of transsovereign nation building: The case of Orbán's Hungary

Martin Hochel (Institute of European Studies and International Relations, Slovakia) - Hungarian Kin Support of Ethnic Hungarian Municipalities in Slovakia and Trends in Bilateral Relations

Szabolcs Pogonyi (Central European University, Austria) - Kin-Minorities as Hostages and Bargaining Chips in Times of War

 

PANEL 3:

Discussant: David Smith (University of Glasgow)

Chair: Erika Harris (University of Liverpool)

PAPERS:

Magdalena Dembinska (Université de Montréal, Canada) - Contested sovereignty: Kin-state policies and minorities in de facto states

Mate Subašić (University of Liverpool, UK) - Dynamics of transborder engagement in the Western Balkans amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Andreea Udrea (Royal Holloway, University of London, UK) - In the shadow of the superpowers: The US Balkans Policy and kin-state engagement in the Western Balkans

The full programme is available here.

First published: 21 July 2025

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