Responding to an invitation from the Kosovo Institute for Policy Research and Development (KIPRED), ELIAMEP hosted an unofficial delegation of representatives from Kosovo in Greece within the context of the continuous discussion regarding the Western Balkans’ European Integration and the issue of Kosovo’s status. The delegation consisted of representatives from think tanks, research centres, and civil society, as well as public and private media.
The delegation initially arrived in Thessaloniki on Wednesday 20 February 2013. After some interviews with journalists covering SEE a roundtable discussion took place at the University of Macedonia entitled “Contemporary Kosovo: Perspectives from the Media, Civil Society and the Arts”. The participants were Ms Venera Hajrullahu, Executive Director of Kosovo Civil Society; Mr Veton Nurkollari, Artistic Director DOKUFEST; Mr Shpend Kursani, Senior Researcher at KIPRED; and Ana-Mari Repic, Deputy Director of Radio Television of Kosovo. Two other events also took place in parallel. The first at the American College of Thessaloniki entitled “Civil Society, Media and Business in the Balkans”, with the participation of Ms Flaka Surroi, Executive Director of KOHA group; Mr Ilir Deda, Executive Director of KIPRED; Mr. Armend Muja, Head of Research and Programmes of QKSS; and Mr Berat Rukiqi, General Secretary of Kosovo Chamber of Commerce. The second discussion took place at the International Hellenic University and was entitled “Views from Prishtina on the Future of Kosovo”; Participants were Mrs Zana Daka from the Kosovo Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Mr Ardian Arifaj from KIPRED. During their stay in Thessaloniki, the delegation also met with representatives of the Amnesty International and the Cinema Festival.
On Thursday 21 and Friday 22 February, the delegation visited Athens and met with the Secretary of International Affairs from the party of New Democracy, Mr Ioannis Smyrlis, and with the Democratic Left party’s representative of European and Foreign Policy, Mr. Gerasimos Georgatos. Between the meetings the delegation participated in a public event on Kosovo’s future that took place at a hotel near the city’s center. The title of the event was “The Future of Kosovo: Views from the Civil Society, the Media and the Business sector”. The panel that included Mr Ilir Deda, Mr Berat Rukiqi, Ms Ana Mari Repic and Mrs Flaka Surroi, was moderated by Dr I. Armakolas, head of ELIAMEP’s SEE programme, while Amb. A. Mallias (ret.) shared his expertise on the Balkans acting as the panel’s discussant. Major issues discussed were Kosovo’s status, as well as internal problems that Kosovo faces, such as corruption, organized crime, unemployment and negative economic performance. With the end of the event the participants were interviewed by Greek journalists. On Friday, a roundtable discussion took place at ELIAMEP’s offices, where Associate Professor from the University of Athens, Dr Dimitri Sotiropoulos gave a presentation on the social impact of the current economic crisis in SEE.