7. 12. 2018 | PR
The Western Balkans Summit in London was the first meeting within the Berlin Process after the adoption of the European Commission’s strategic document on the Western Balkans and the follow-up discussions during the Sofia Summit. The London Summit was the last station of a half-a-year long trip of the EU engine aiming to change the backsliding climate in the Western Balkans and give a new impetus to their ruling structures starting to look for more interested regional and global partners.
Finally,London was also the last Summit of the originally envisaged 5-years long Berlin Process. From this point onward, the whole Berlin Process has become more uncertain without a clear strategy for its continuation or future prospects.
Read about the main gains from the summit:
Policy paper: 2018 Western Balkans Summit: 3 key takeaways from London
Infographic PDF
5. 12. 2018 | PR
Centre for European Perspective kindly invites you to our Annual Policy Discussion “Central and Eastern Europe at the Crossroads” and Pre-New Year’s Reception on Wednesday, 12 December 2018, starting at 11 am, followed by a reception at 1 pm, at Jable Castle (Grajska cesta 1, 1234 Loka pri Mengšu, Slovenia).
The policy discussion will address the current state of affairs in the Central and Eastern Europe – the growing split between the East and West, the discrepancies between the EU member states and the non-member states and the new reality of the constellation of global powers in the region.
Welcome address:
Ms Špela Lajmiš
President of the Executive Board, Centre for European Perspective
Panelists:
Mr Matej Marn
Political Director/Director General,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia
Ambassador Iztok Mirošič
BSF Programme Director,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia
Ms Nina Pejič
Faculty of Social Sciences, East Asia Resource Library and THINK Initiative Researcher
Active listener:
Mr Ingo Mayr-Knoch
CEO, WBE Think Initiative
Moderator:
Ms Katja Geršak
Executive Director, Centre for European Perspective
The discussion will be followed by a Pre-New Year’s Reception, hosted by the Centre for European Perspective.
RSVP by 10 December here:
5. 12. 2018 | Development (ODA), Helicopter, PR
Imediately after the signature, the Programme for International Development Cooperation between the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the Government of Montenegro for the period 2018-2019 is already implemented in the area that is of vital importance for Montenegro.
From 27 to 29 November 2018, training of members of the Aircraft-Helicopter Unit of the Ministry of the Interior of Montenegro took place in Montenegro, where we exchanged the Montenegrin and Slovenian experiences on the most important aspects of safe helicopter flying in the highlands. In parallel with the training, activities related to the preparation of the proposal for the development of the Avio-Helicopter Unit of the Ministry of the Interior of Montenegro were also acquired.
In order to ensure direct applicability, the workshops were very practical and included tactical exercises in the air with AB412 helicopter. Before each exercise in the air, an interactive briefing was carried out on the ground, and after an exercise in the air, an analysis was carried out, within which the participants received feedback on the exercise carried out and on potential improvements of flying in high mountains. We also discussed horizontal issues such as sensitivity to gender dimension and vulnerable groups.
The set of public services of the helicopter units of the Ministry of the Interior is diverse and important for ensuring the safety and protection of human security in the country. In order to carry out monitoring, search and rescue as well as helicopter emergency medical operations and other operations in the public interest, in accordance with EU standards, the current capacity of the unit needs to be further developed. The activities carried out in 2018 present a beginning of a long-term development cooperation between the Republic of Slovenia and Montenegro, aimed at developing the capacity of the Aviation Helicopter Unit of the Ministry of the Interior of Montenegro.
The project is part of the program activities carried out in cooperation with the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Slovenia / Police of the Republic of Slovenia and is financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia from the funds for international development cooperation.
Click here to read more about the project in Slovenian language. 
4. 12. 2018 | Albania - Local Governments, Development (ODA), PR
A training course “Training of the Trainers – From Listener to Successful Trainer” is taking place in Durres, Albania this week as part of the CEP development project “Support to Albanian LGU on Preparation of the EU and Other International Projects”. Following a series of trainings, it will ensure transfer of skills and knowledge, gained from the trainings conducted in the previous years.
At the Training Opening, CEP Secretary General Mr Andrej Vrčon, BCCD Executive Director Ms Elvana Zhezha and Deputy Head of Mission at the Slovenian Embassy in Albania Ms Milena Radenković greeted the participants.
Over 20 participants got acquainted with the AT-AP technique, characteristics of successful training, needs-based trainings, Kolb’s cycle of experiential learning and tell-tell-tell method on the first day of the training. They also looked into effective communication and skills of a good public speaker.
Second day is practice-oriented and allows the participants to draft, create and propose their own project ideas that would be eligible for EU or other international funding and train their skills of presenting such projects in an effective way, while also learning how to train their colleagues and co-workers to do the same.
The execution of the project is done in cooperation with the BCCD.
See the photos from the training in the gallery below:
The training is organised within the framework of the Centre for European Perspective project “Support to Albanian LGU on Preparation of the EU and Other International Projects” supported by the Slovenia’s Development Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia.
3. 12. 2018 | Danube, PR
Centre for European Perspective is with City of Vienna coordinating one of 12 thematic priorities of the EU Strategy for the Danube region – priority 10: institutional capacity and cooperation.
One of the most important tasks of the priority area coordinators is to guide activities of the representatives of 14 Danube countries into similar direction. The Steering Group (SG) should meet at least twice a year and last week (28-29 November) the 15th SG meeting of PA10 in Prague, Czech Republic was organized.
In summer idea of back-to-back meeting with priority area (PA) 11: Secruity was brought up as topics of PA10 and PA11 are joined under the pillar 4 of the Danube Transnational Programme. With joint meeting organizers wanted to attract all SG members as well as experts that are working on the fields related to the Danube Region in general. We have therefore invited newly established Danube Strategy Point (DSP), Danube Transnational Programme (DTP) and Romanian representatives, as Romania is chairing the Presidency of the EU Strategy for Danube Region. Long list of interesting topics attracted around 50 people from all 14 Danube countries that gathered at Ministry of Interior of Czech Republic. Firstly, they were all warmly greeted by Slovene Ambassador to the Czech Republic, H.E. Dr Leon Marc. Discussion than touched upon the upcoming call for proposals from the DTP, plans and activities of the Danube Strategy Point and priorities of the presidency that will at the end of June 2019 organize traditional annual forum in Bucharest. Towards the end of discussions, possible joint initiatives between PA10 and PA11 were screened, from joint forces on project to policy level.
The following day representatives of PA10 were hosted by the Ministry of Regional Development of Czech Republic and dedicated large portion of time to the upcoming revision of the Action Plan that is planned to be finalized by the next summer. In the afternoon part participants presented the main activities they have been working on since last meeting, heard presentations of the projects working on PA10 related topics and defined the steps of cooperation until next meeting. Three suggestions for next meeting location were put forward – the coordinators advocate meetings in various Danube cities to support and promote national discussion on EUSDR across the region.
