27. 10. 2021 | POTC, PR
Klikni tukaj za branje prispevka v slovenskem jeziku. 🇸🇮
Peace Operations Training Centre (POTC) has in cooperation with the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Slovenia this year dedicated lots of energy for creating a new course Community and People Centred Approach of which the pilot course will be delivered next year. The first two Community and People Centred Approach Course workshops were attended by representatives of defence policy, civil defence, military, police, international development cooperation, humanitarian organizations, project management experts, and others.
At the first workshop in March, participants were introduced to the important contributions of civilian functional experts to the overall military objective of the operation, analysed the past and current international operations and missions of NATO, EU and UN through local (so-called micro) projects, and evaluated the relevance, validity and feasibility of the strategy for participation in international operations and missions. At the second workshop in June, two inter-ministerial and inter-sectoral pilot projects were prepared for local communities and population, which will be implemented in practice in the area of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the coming years. Both projects will try to fill the gap that appears below the level of city, regional and central authorities. A comprehensive approach, establishing and maintaining a network of relationships with local communities and local population, is the focus of the Community and People Centered Approach Course.
In December, the third and last Community and People Centred Approach workshop will take place where participants, with the help of experts from NATO, UN, EU and OSCE, will design a high-quality course, which will in the future equip civilian functional experts with legal, strategic, doctrinal and tactical documentary bases for action (coordination, cooperation, collaboration) at the level of local communities and the population in missions (in the framework of implementation of various projects and other forms of action at the local level).
22. 10. 2021 | PR, Serbia - management of patrols
Klikni tukaj za več o projektu v slovenščini 
Between 12 and 16 October 2021, a field visit took place in Serbia in the territory of the Bor, Pirot, Požarevac and Zaječar police administrations.
Twelve organizational units of the general, traffic and border police, two regional centres of the Border Police Administration and four regional police administrations showed how the patrol management system is being introduced and what challenges they face. They could already present concrete examples of good practice, when a faster and coordinated response of patrols was crucial for better service to citizens and saving their lives. A representative of the Slovenian police also provided counselling to colleagues on the spot in all visited organizational units of the Serbian police.
A successful field visit in the aforementioned 16 organizational units represents a step closer to a comprehensive approach to the effective management of patrols throughout Serbia.
Patrol management is an important part of the police response to people’s needs when their lives, their safety or property are at stake, and the speed of response can save lives.
The project is part of the program activities of international development cooperation, financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia and implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of the Interior and the Police of the Republic of Slovenia.
Further information:
Andreja Dolničar Jeraj
Programme Director
Centre for European Perspective
7. 10. 2021 | North Macedonia - Communication, PR
Klikni tukaj za več o projektnih aktivnostih v slovenskem jeziku
In North Macedonia, despite less optimistic forecasts about the start of negotiations with the European Union, they are preparing for negotiations. Particularly engaged in preparations is the future Working Group on Chapter 24. This chapter covers issues of justice, freedom and security. Due to the changed methodology of the EU and the importance, scope and complexity of the content, Chapter 24 is the first to open, the future working group for Chapter 24 is particularly keen to prepare for the negotiations.
The Macedonian initiative to strengthen the capacity of the working group for Chapter 24 speaks of the interest in increasing the skills of the members of the working group. It also speaks of Macedonian comprehension of the impact of strengthen capacities on both the effectiveness of the negotiation process with the EU and the promotion of rule of law reforms, which benefit the country, regardless of negotiation process with the EU.
At the initiative of the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of North Macedonia, the first in a series of practical, interactive workshops was held in North Macedonia from 28-30 September 2021, to be organized for a future Chapter 24 working group. The working group for Chapter 24, which participated in the workshop, is composed inter-departmentally. It includes representatives of the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Justice, the Prosecution, the Customs Administration, the Financial Police, the National Security Agency and the Secretariat for European Affairs.
This workshop was aimed at raising the awareness of the future working group for Chapter 24 on the importance of internal and external communication for the negotiation process. The exercises consisted of the contents of Chapter 24 and communication techniques, as well as feedback and experiences of the participants, including experiences from the EU negotiation process of Slovenia and Montenegro.
At the end of the workshop, it was agreed that the workshop activities contributed to the progress in communications within the Chapter 24 Negotiating Working Group and increased awareness of the importance of communication. At the same time, working group expressed the need to continue with practical exercises and to increase the frequency of Chapter 24 working group regular meetings. With the conclusion of the first workshop, preparations for follow-up workshops tailored-made to the participants and consisted of interactive exercises began aimed at raising the communication capacity of the Chapter 24 working group. The next workshop in North Macedonia is expected to take place in February 2022.
The project is part of the programme activities of Slovenia’s Development Cooperation Programme financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia.
Further information:
Andreja Dolničar Jeraj
Programme Director
Centre for European Perspective
7. 10. 2021 | PR, Strengthening Societal Resilience and Countering Foreign Perpetrated Disinformation in 6 Western Balkans Countries
The Centre for European Perspective is holding the second capacity-building training on countering disinformation in Portorož (SLO), bringing together representatives of government, civil society and media from all 6 countries in the Western Balkans.
At this weeks training, the representatives from the media and NGO’s, had the chance to discuss disinformation issues with the governmental representatives. All sides presented good practices and made next steps in strengthening regional cooperation.
Project “Strengthening societal resilience and countering foreign perpetrated disinformation in the Western Balkans” is financed by the National Endowment for Democracy and Slovenian Development Aid fund (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia).
5. 10. 2021 | PR, V4
Institute for Democracy “Societas Civilis” – Skopje (IDSCS) and Centre for European Perspective (CEP) Slovenia organised the event “2021 Slovenian Presidency with the Council of EU, the integration of WB and the role of the Visegrad countries” on 5 October in Ljubljana, Slovenia as part of the Think Balkans project.
At the event, two papers were presented by prominent Visegrad and Western Balkan experts – “Fundamentals and the regional cooperation in the Western Balkans” and “The conference on the Future of Europe: How could Visegrad be the voice of the Western Balkans?” .
The welcoming remarks were delivered by Ms Urška Volk Kovačič, Head of Bled Strategic Forum and Danube Programme and representative of the Centre for European Perspective, Mr Gjergj Murra, Executive Director of the Western Balkans Fund (WBF), Mr Marko Troshanovski, President of the Institute for Democracy (IDSCS) and Mr Peter Grk, Secretary General of the Bled Strategic Forum and National Coordinator for the Western Balkans at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia.
Ms Volk Kovačič welcomed the attendees and in her remarks endorsed the Think Balkans project as a mechanism that contributes to the enlargement process of the Western Balkans. “Think Balkans in particular is of a great importance for the enlargement process and it is a valuable project for the Centre for European Perspective (CEP) which was created with the goal of assisting Western Balkan countries on their road to the EU”, said Volk Kovačič.
Mr Murra emphasised the importance of setting mechanisms that will contribute to the on-going trust-building processes between institutions and think tank community in the region.
“Encouraged by the support and partnership relations of the project with MFA’s in the region, as relevant beneficiaries of your products, let me stress and highlight the advice for keeping as close as possible connections with the focal points in the respective ministries. I firmly believe that Western Balkans Fund may become the natural partner of the initiative, playing an essential role in developing think tanks and their cooperation in the region“, said Murra.
Mr Troshanovski talked about the main motivation behind the project, the prospective goals and upcoming activities in the period to come.
“The idea of Think Balkans is to move towards a permanent mechanism, and the support and recognition we get from the donor side, as well the MFAs and our partners in the consortium, is very much encouraging. The mechanism aims to create more formalised and institutional platform that will bring the region closer”, stated Troshanovski
Mr Grk stressed the importance of strategic importance of the WB for the future of the EU the enlargement process for the WB and positioning them as equal partners.
“There is a need for substantial transformation of the region, not just economic but social, better rule of law, protection of human rights, and this can only be achieved through active and serious enlargement process. The Slovenian presidency aimed towards bringing back the light, focus and strategic discussion on the region”, said Grk.
The first panel addressed the topic of European Union’s revised enlargement methodology and the future of the Western Balkan. Mr Dragan Tilev, State Counsellor for Support of the EU Membership Negotiations at the Secretariat for EU affairs and Associate Researcher at the Institute for Democracy (IDSCS), Ms Nedžma Džananović Miraščija, Professor at the Faculty of Political Science of the University of Sarajevo and Researcher at the Humanity in Action, Ms Jelica Minić, Vice-President of the European Movement in Serbia (EMiNS), Mr Tomas Strazay, Director of the Research Center of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association (RC SFPA) and Ms Jana Juzova, Research Fellow at the EUROPEUM- Institute for European Policy shared their perspective on the topic.
Each of the panelists addressed different aspect of the New or Revised Methodology and their perspective of its impact over the WB enlargement process. Tilev discussed the future of the New Enlargement Methodology and whether it will become the new hope for the WB or the labyrinth with no exit. Minić presented her perspective on how the New Methodology will reflect on Serbia accession process to the EU. Džananović talked about the impact of the revised methodology on Bosnia and Hercegovina which still has not achieved the candidate status. Strazay stressed Visegrad countries and Slovenia’s role in advocating for the WB in the EU enlargement process and representing them at the Conference of the Future of Europe. Juzová added to the opinion of Visegrad being the voice for Western Balkan in the EU but also emphasised that EU should perceive the WB beneficial in terms of geopolitics and security for the whole continent.
The second panel touched the topic of reinventing regional cooperation under decreased EU leverage in the Western Balkans. The topic gathered Mr Nikola Mumin, Executive Director of the Politikon Network, Mr Ledion Krisafi, Researcher at the Albanian Institute for International Studies (AIIS), Ms Donika Emini, Executive Director of the CiviKos Platform and member of the Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group (BiEPAG), Mr Zoran Nechev Head of the Centre for EU integration within Institute for Democracy (IDSCS), Mr Ferenc Nemeth, Research Fellow at the Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade (IFAT) and Ms Marta Szpala, Senior Fellow at the Central European Department of the Centre for Eastern Studies (OSW).
Mumin presented his perspective on regional cooperation and the benefits of it for Montenegro. However, he said that currently the regional cooperation for Montenegro seems to be on hold, despite the political discourse saying otherwise, especially in the case of the Open Balkan initiative where Montenegro is currently not taking part. Krisafi briefed on the Albanian perspective of regional cooperation stressing the fact the Albania focus has to be expended on increased regional cooperation with every country in the region. Emini emphasised that regional cooperation has to be present among the countries despite all of the on-going bilateral issues in the region. Presenting the Macedonian perspective, Nechev agreed that regional cooperation is essential for the region, not just as conditionality for EU accession but for a more connected, stronger and better functioning region. Nemeth suggested that regional cooperation is not valuable only prior to the EU accession but also after becoming a Member State, and following the example of Visegrad, WB6 needs to be in alliance before joining the EU. Finally, Szpala shared her thoughts on the fact that parliaments are playing a crucial part in increased regional cooperation and increasing their capacities for regional cooperation will be beneficial for the future of the region.
The concluding remarks were delivered by Mr Marko Troshanovski, President of IDSCS. The panels were moderated by Mr Zoran Nechev, Head of the Centre for EU integration within IDSCS and Ms Ana Novak, Project Manager at the Centre for European Perspective in Slovenia.
You can see the whole video of the event here:
Photos from the event:
Activities are organized under the auspices of the ‘Cooperation Instrument for the Western Balkans Think Tanks – THINK BALKANS’ project, financially supported by the International Visegrad Fund and implemented by the Institute for Democracy “Societas Civilis” – Skopje (IDSCS), in cooperation with the European Movement in Serbia (EMinS), Platforma CiviKos from Kosovo, Politikon Network from Montenegro, Albanian Institute for International Studies (AIIS) from Albania, Humanity in Action from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Centre for European Perspective (CEP) from Slovenia, Centre for Eastern Studies from Poland (OSW), Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade from Hungary (IFAT), the Research Centre of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association (RC SFPA) from Slovakia, and EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy (EUROPEUM).
