Session 5: Balkans 2025: What Kind of Future Can We Expect? (in Partnership with Open Society Foundation)
Discussion Points:
- Rule of law and reconciliation – What can we expect in the next seven years?
- Freeing the captured states in the Balkans – What role for the EU accession?
- Direct participation of citizens – Is it crucial for the future of democracy in the Balkans?
- Security sector reform in Kosovo – How will it unfold?
- European Union and other international actors from the perspective of progressive social movements in Serbia and Macedonia?
Background
In February 2018, the EU has adopted its new Enlargement Strategy. This ambitious document clarifies the EU’s expectations from the Western Balkans countries (WB6) and opens the possibility for the so-called Balkan front-runners in the EU integration – Montenegro and Serbia – to become Member States by 2025. By then, Albania and Macedonia are expected to advance on their EU integration paths, while the EU perspective for Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina remains vague and ambiguous. While provision of credible EU membership is an encouraging vision for the region, there are still a number of uncertainties that might lead to alternative scenarios. In this Session think-tankers will challenge policy-makers to consider overlooked evidence on new crises or unexplored opportunities, as well as to re-shape narratives on common future.