The Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) will participate as a co-organizer of the Civil Society and Think Tank Forum, which will take place in the framework of the Berlin Process Summit on the 14th and 15th of October 2023 in Tirana (as Albania holds the rotating Presidency of the process). The Forum is co-organised by the Open Society Foundation (OSF) and the Cooperation and Development Institute (CDI).
The implementing body of the ELIAMEP’s contribution to the Civil Society and Think Tank Forum is the South-East Europe Programme led by Ioannis Armakolas.
Dr. Armakolas, PhD (Cantab), Associate Professor of Comparative Politics of Southeastern Europe at the Department of Balkan, Slavic and Oriental Studies, University of Macedonia and Principal Researcher & Head of the South-East Europe Programme will speak at the launching event of the Forum alongside Erion Veliaj, Mayor of Tirana, Andi Dobrushi, Western Balkans Director – Open Society Foundations and Manuel Sarrazin, Special Representative of the Federal Government of Germany.
You can register to watch the launch of the Civil Society and Think Tank Forum online here.
Later the same day and more specifically at 12:30 (CEST) – 13:30 (EEST) ELIAMEP will host the panel “The Politics of Enlargement: How to seize the new momentum?”. The discussion will be moderated by Alexandra Voudouri, Research Fellow and Journalist – ELIAMEP. The speakers of this panel will be Ditmir Bushati, Former Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs of Albania, Nikola Dimitrov, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia, Viola von Cramon-Taubadel, Member of European Parliament, European Green Party, Adnan Ćerimagić, Senior Analyst for the Western Balkans, European Stability Initiative and Ana Krstinovska, Research Fellow – ELIAMEP and President – ESTIMA.
This panel will reflect on the issues of the EU englargement and the accession process of the Western Balkans. The Russian aggression against Ukraine has underscored the importance of continuing European unification through enlargement. The reality of a war on the European continent contributed to reinvigorating the debate on how to proceed further, and how to prepare both the EU to accept new members and the (potential) candidate countries to meet the membership requirements. Opportunities for blockages in the accession process are all too numerous, political commitment is not a given and the momentum can easily be lost. Against such a backdrop, it is important to examine the contentious aspects to anticipate and facilitate solutions.
You can register to watch the panel “The Politics of Enlargement: How to seize the new momentum?” online here.
For more information you can follow the South-East Europe Programme’s social media:
The detailed agenda of the Civil Society and Think Tank Forum is available here.
Information on how to watch the Civil Society and Think Tank Forum panels online can be found here.
