Join us for a relevant and timely policy debate on "Connecting the dots: Western Balkans’ expectations from neighboring EU Member States for EU integration".
The event will bring together a panel of high profile experts from around the region:
- Keynote Speaker: HE Adrian Davidoiu Special Representative for the Western Balkans, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Romania
- Jovana Marović, BiEPAG member, former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of European Affairs in the Government of Montenegro;
- Srđan Cvijić, BiEPAG member, President of the International Advisory Committee of the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP), Serbia;
- Donjet Gjoka, Advisor to the Minister of State and Chief Negotiator, Government of Albania;
- Silviu Rogobete, Professor, West University Timisoara, Romania.
Moderator: Miruna Butnaru Troncotă, Associate Professor National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Romania.
The event will take place at the West University of Timișoara (Hall A01). The format of the discussion will include 15 min interventions for each speaker and a final Q&A session.
After many years of stagnation the EU enlargement process has experienced a significant revival in 2023. In the context of the war in Ukraine there are more voices proposing an accelerated EU integration process for the Western Balkans in this tense geopolitical reconfiguration. Romania is one of the countries that has shown continuous support for the Western Balkans. But we believe there is still space for more concrete steps and policy making potential of using all neighbouring member states concrete support and lobby in the EU for advancing the EU integration process of the Western Balkans for 2024 - a very important year that will bring a power reshuffle in Brussels after the European elections. European Council President, Charles Michael, recently called for the EU to be ready for new accessions by 2030. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called for major EU institutional reform in preparation for further enlargement.
Moreover, enlargement has featured as an important topic in the last State of the Union speech by Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen in September 2023. We believe this is timely moment to examine the future of EU enlargement from the perspective of Western Balkans’ experts. The discussion will be focused on evaluating the progress made by candidate states to date and how likely the renewed drive for enlargement will produce significant reforms in 2024, in the context of tense events that marked the region recently. We are interested that each participant will focus on their specific country’s expectations from the South Eastern Europe Member states - with a focus on Romania - for this new stage of the enlargement process.
Participation is free of charge, but registration prior to the event is mandatory for seat allocation.
Event organized by Association INK - Innovation Needs Knowledge and the Centre for European Studies SNSPA, in cooperation with West University of Timișoara, with the financial support of the European Fund for the Balkans through its beeEFB Programme.