IECOB - Istituto per l'Europa Centro-Orientale e Balcanica

The Institute for East-Central Europe and the Balkans ( IECOB) was founded in 1995, by scholars from different Universities - connected through the “Europe and the Balkans International Network”.

The Institute enlisted the support of

• the University of Bologna,
• the City Council of Bologna,
• the European Commission,
• the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
• the Region Emilia-Romagna,
• the City Council of Forlì,
• and Cervia,
• entrepreneurs and business associations,
• as well as financial contributions from the main banking foundations of the Region Emilia-Romagna.

The Institute is situated in Forlì, its headquarters provided by the University of Bologna, Forlì Campus. It relies on a dense network created by the "Europe and the Balkans International Network", on its experts and scholars (over 250 from 36 European countries, the United States, Canada, Egypt, South Africa, India, Japan, and Australia), and on relations established with the Italian Foreign Trade Institute, the Italian Diplomatic Institute, the Central European Initiative, UniAdrion, CRE and other international organizations, such as UNESCO and the World Bank.

Starting from this solid basis, the Institute succeeded in creating a network of economic, social, and political institutes that provide high quality political-diplomatic, legal-economic and linguistic-cultural information, research and training on Central, Eastern and Balkan Europe affairs.