A two-day event “Back on the Agenda: EU Enlargement and the Western Balkans” organized by the Centre for European Perspective took place in Brussels, Belgium. By involving think tank representatives and youth, civil society of the Western Balkans discussed their concerns, challenges, ideas and prospects with EU representatives, policy makers and experts in four fields: democratization, participation, social affairs and reconciliation.
On 5 – 6 April 2018 we paid a visit to the State Prosecutor General of the Republic of Macedonia Mr Ljubomir Joveski under the framework of Slovenia’s Development Cooperation. From Slovenia, working visit was attended by Mr Drago Šketa, the State Prosecutor General of the Republic of Slovenia, Mr Harij Furlan, Head of the Group of state prosecutors for the prosecution of organized crime at the Office of the State Prosecutor General of the Republic of Slovenia, and Ms Andreja Dolničar Jeraj, Programme Director at the Centre for European Perspective. From Macedonia, Ms Liljana Spasoska and Mr Voislav Gavrovski, chief state prosecutors, Ms Gordana Samkoska, Public Prosecutor and Head of the Basic Public Prosecution Office for Organized Crime and Corruption, and Ms Bisera Mitreska, Head of Department for Activity Coordination and Protocol of the State Prosecutor General of the Republic of Macedonia were present.
The talks focused on the needs assessment in the framework of a two-year development project “Support to Macedonia in accession to the EU in the Chapter 24 – financial investigations” that has been in place since early 2017. State Prosecutor General of the Republic of Macedonia Mr Ljubomir Joveski expressed his interest for exchange of experiences with Slovenia and confirmed cooperation of both state prosecutor generals in the future activities, including a three-day workshop taking place in May 2018 in Macedonia. He expressed his optimism, since such projects contribute to stronger cooperation between the institutions inside Republic of Macedonia in investigations and fight against organized crime and corruption, as well as boost cooperation between prosecution offices and other bodies in Republic of Macedonia and Republic of Slovenia.
Project is part of CEP’s program activities executed in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior and the Office of the State Prosecutor General, financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia in the framework of Slovenia’s Development Cooperation.
Digital Diplomacy Bootcamp 2.0 organised by the Centre for European Perspective and supported by the U.S. Department of State took place in Bled and Ljubljana from 10 to 13 April 2018. A 4-day training »Enhancing Digital Diplomacy Activities in the Western Balkans and Eastern Europe” brought together over 70 PR representatives, communication officers and digital diplomats from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Ukraine and Slovenia.
In the framework of Slovenia’s Development Cooperation with the Republic of Serbia a field analysis of the operation of the system of operational data exchange related to illegal migration took place on 11 – 14 April 2018. Representatives of the police from Serbia and Slovenia analysed the exchange of data in various organizational units of the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Serbia on the local, regional and state level of the boarder, general and criminal police and operational centre. Their conclusions will serve for the preparation and execution of a three-day workshop that will aim to draft a proposal for the data exchange system optimization, which will fulfil the EU membership standards.
Field analysis was executed in cooperation with the organizational units of the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Serbia, including Border Police Station Preševo, Border Police Station Rujan, Regional Centre for the Border with Macedonia, Police Directorate Vranje and its organizational units, Border Police Station Vrška Čuka, Border Police Station Zaječar and its organizational units, Police Directorate Bor, Commanding Operations Centre at Police Administration Belgraade, Border Police Station Batrovci, Border Police Station Srem, Border Police Station Šid, Regional Centre for the Border with Croatia and the General Police Directorate (Sector for Analytics, Telecommunications and Information Technology, Department for Electronic Services, Operations Centre, Border Police Directorate and Criminal Police Directorate – Office for Fight Against Organized Crime and Corruption).
Inclusive and interactive nature of the field analysis brought good results, which is why an effective, hands-on and resourceful follow-up workshop can be expected on 18-21 June 2018.
Field analysis is part of CEP’s program activities conducted in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior and financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia in the framework of Slovenia’s Development Cooperation.
Digital Diplomacy Bootcamp 2.0 organised by the Centre for European Perspective and supported by the U.S. Department of State concluded in Ljubljana on Friday, 13 April 2018. A 4-day training »Enhancing Digital Diplomacy Activities in the Western Balkans and Eastern Europe” brought together over 70 PR representatives, communication officers and digital diplomats from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Ukraine and Slovenia.
The training covered theoretical and practical aspects of digital communications, digital journalism, story-telling, strategic communications planning, video-editing, photography and design. It evolved and upgraded the understanding of communications theory, digital crisis communications and digital journalism, but also offered a chance to improve and boost the skills in photography, design and video-editing. Participants were challenged in digital campaign development, but also actively discussed the phenomenon of misinformation, social media usage, audience identification, understanding and targeting.
Press and public affairs products and their development attracted the attention of participants particularly because of its applicability in their everyday professional life. The last day of the training took place in Ljubljana and focused on teamwork, simulations and presentations, where the participants had to show their best and use the knowledge and skills acquired during the training.
The concluding session and certificate ceremony were joined by Ambassador Brent R. Hartley, U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Slovenia and Dr Gorazd Justinek, director of the Centre for European Perspective.
The training is second of its kind, following the Digital Diplomacy Bootcamp conducted in November 2017 and represents an upgrade of an established cooperation between the Centre for European Perspective and the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Embassy in Ljubljana.
