Areas of Expertise

  • EU and NATO enlargement 
  • Peace and conflict research
  • Human rights and national minorities
  • Western Balkans and post-Soviet conflict areas
  • Migration, asylum, and refugee issues (EU)

Short Bio

Nikola Xaviereff is a Research Fellow at DGAP’s Center for Order and Governance in Eastern Europe, Russia, and Central Asia, where he focuses on EU enlargement policy and Germany’s foreign policy toward the Western Balkans, Moldova, and Ukraine. His research explores the political dynamics of EU accession, debates on enlargement across Europe, and broader geopolitical transformations.

Previously, he worked for the Democracy and Human Dignity Division of the Council of Europe and for the OSCE’s High Commissioner on National Minorities. In Germany, he worked in the Bundestag and supported Ukrainian refugees in Berlin.

Xaviereff holds an MSc in international affairs from KU Leuven and an MSc in international migration and public policy from the London School of Economics. He is a TILN Fellow of the German Marshall Fund, an alumnus of the Manfred Wörner Seminar of the German Federal Ministry of Defense, and a GLOBSEC Young Leader.

Languages

English, German, Russian, Bosnian-Serbian-Croatian

 

[Last updated: September 2026]

Nikola Xaviereff

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Expertise

Publications

Aerial view of Parliamentary assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina

As Bosnia Votes, Western Consensus Is Broken

What Germany and the EU Need to Do
Milan Nič
Nikola Xaviereff
Both Brussels and Berlin must prepare to play a bigger role in the future of a country that remains a key node of regional stability and European security.
Memo
Tivat, Montenegro, 05.06.2026: EU-West Balkan-Summit: Group photo

The Decline of Russian Power in the Western Balkans

Fragmentation Amid Intensified Geopolitical Competition
Nikola Xaviereff
As local actors pursue ad hoc alliances and engage in transactional foreign policy, thus changing the logic of interaction, Germany and the EU will need to pay strategic attention to the Western Balkans.
Policy Brief
Treffen EU-Rat

Erweiterung ohne Allianz

Die EU zwischen Geopolitik und Reformblockaden
Nikola Xaviereff
Für eine EU-Erweiterung fehlt derzeit der politische Konsens der Mitgliedstaaten.
Memo
Montenegro President Jakov Milatovic (L) meets with EU Council President Antonio Costa (R) in Brussels, Belgium on October 16, 2025

EU Enlargement in Transition

Montenegro at the Frontline
Nikola Xaviereff
If Ukraine has restored urgency to enlargement, Montenegro will determine whether the European Union can still turn strategy into action.
External Publications
Flags of the EU fly outside EU headquarters in Brussels on December 19, 2025

Europe’s Next Enlargement

What Berlin, Paris, and The Hague Really Think
Milan Nič
Sébastien Maillard
Wouter Zweers
et al.
Perspectives on enlargement in three key member states and recommendations on how to move forward
Policy Brief

In the media