On Wednesday 19 July 2023 the 2nd online meeting of the “Politics of Enlargement” group, led by ELIAMEP, took place in preparation for this year’s Civil Society and Think-Tank Forum that will occur in October in Tirana.
This 2nd meeting was attended by government officials from the Western Balkans, including the Serbian Minister of European Integration, Tanja Miščević and a number of experts from the region and Western Europe.
Focus was set on the analysis of the factors affecting the enlargement process and ways in which it could be accelerated. Particular emphasis was placed on how the governments of the region and the specific actors involved in the negotiations and the integration of the European acquis are influencing the process. The question of how the EU can reinvigorate interest in the region for integration was also addressed. Against this background, the question of how the present context could be used to give new impetus to enlargement towards the Western Balkans and what concrete policy recommendations could be created to help in this direction was put on the table.
The group’s work will continue and will culminate by September with the development of policy recommendations, which will be presented at the Tirana Forum and at the Leaders’ Summit in October. ELIAMEP is contributing as a co-organiser to the successful implementation of the Civil Society and Think Tank Forum 2023.