EU-Western Balkans Summit, 7.12. Brussels and online – Friends of Europe

PAST

Dear Friends
Friends of Europe is delighted to invite you to join this year’s EU-Western Balkans Summit under the slogan “Transforming global uncertainty into regional opportunity”.

The Summit will take place in person and online on Wednesday, 7 December, from 13.00 to 18.00 (CET), preceded by our pre-Summit youth roundtable “Young Balkan Voices” from 11.00 to 12.00 (CET).

Confirmed speakers at this year’s Summit include: Stevo Pendarovski, Macedonian President; Edi Rama, Albanian Prime Minister; Donika Gërvalla-Schwarz, Kosovar* Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora; Manuel Sarrazin, Special Representative for the Countries of the Western Balkans for the German Federal Foreign Office; Evis Kushi, Albanian Minister of Education, Youth and Sports; Sabina Ćudić, Member of the House of Representatives of Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Vice-President of Naša Stranka (NS); Andreas Schieder, Chair of the Delegation to the EU-North Macedonia Joint Parliamentary Committee; Nikola Dimitrov, Former deputy prime minister for European integration and former Macedonian minister of foreign affairs; Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, former Latvian president; Ivana Živković, Assistant Secretary General, Assistant Administrator and Director of the UNDP Regional Bureau for Europe and Commonwealth of Independent States; Michela Matuella, Acting Director for the Western Balkans at the European Commission; and Paul Taylor, Senior Fellow for Peace, Security and Defence at Friends of Europe and Contributing Editor to Politico.

Ahead of the new era that unfolds before Europe’s eyes, the Western Balkans stand out as key actors bound to play a critical role in the security and democracy of the entire continent. As part of Friends of Europe’s Balkan Journey initiative, this Summit will address the new challenges, risks and uncertainties the Western Balkans have experienced in 2022, while focusing on practical prospects and opportunities through a set of policy recommendations.

Speakers and participants will debate key questions, such as:
What are the key security challenges in the Western Balkans and what role can the EU and NATO play in addressing them?
How can equitable and sustainable development be enabled in the region through less traditional or small-scale forms of economic activity, such as the arts, or the green and digital start-up sectors?
Which reforms are the Western Balkans implementing today to align with EU standards, and how can the EU’s support for the countries be improved at every step of the accession process to prevent setbacks?

We, the WCR e.V. is member of Friends of Europe, and we are happy to share this event with you.

Programm

Anmeldung per mail an: office@WCR-ev.de

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