Centre for European Perspective has in cooperation with the Bled Strategic Forum international conference and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia held its traditional December round table on the topic of Western Balkans. Round table was attended by more than 50 participants, coming from the Slovenian ministry of Foreign Affairs, Academia, Embassies and long-standing partners of CEP and BSF.
The discussion was based on the conclusions of the Panel on the Western Balkans, held at the Bled Strategic Forum 2017, where a clear message emerged – the process of enlargement of the European Union is still an incentive for transformation for the countries in the Western Balkans, and the speakers agreed in September that the future of the region is within the European Union. The values shared by the region and the EU represent a strong driving force for both sides. However, not attractiveness nor support should not be taken for granted, and the process must have a clearly defined ultimate goal.
Welcome address was delivered by Dr Gorazd Justinek, Executive Director, Centre for European Perspective who shortly presented CEP activities in 2017, stating that there were more than 60, while BSF was seen as the most remarkable one. He also thanked all the partners who have helped us to achieve and conclude a successful year.
Opening remarks were given by Mr Iztok Mirošič, State Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia who stressed the importance of inclusion of WB countries into the EU for the prosperity and stability of the region, arguing that Slovenia greatly supports European integrations but stays aware of work that both sides still have to do. He underlined there is a new impetus in regard of the enlargement process and EU still sees vast potential in the region, but reminiscences of the past are sometimes better trigger than anything else, and different accounts of history are stopping the reconciliation process. Past is stopping thinking about the most important – future. Most significant priorities in the WB countries should be the rule of law and economic prosperity. Mr Mirošič said regional initiatives are continuing their work harder than they did in the past and is up to the countries in WB to use this momentum in order to move the things on the ground and achieve its goals. In conclusion State Secretary stated “There is always light at the end of the tunnel, if we all move in the same way”.
Round table was moderated by Mr Peter Grk, National Coordinator for Western Balkans, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia, who argued that today we have the window of opportunity in the Western Balkans. Today, compared to 5 years ago, when President of European Commission Juncker said enlargement process is over, we had a speech where Juncker argued Serbia and Montenegro are expected to enter EU before 2025. That marks first time European Commission has set a date, causing change in enlargement atmosphere that until then was facing enlargement fatigue and enlargement patience. Question remains whether the date set is feasible, as well as what actions will be taken in order to close the economic gap between the countries in the region.
Speakers of the round table were H. E. Mr Pëllumb Qazimi, Ambassador of the Republic of Albania, H. E. Mr Nexhmi Rexhepi, Ambassador of Kosovo, H. E. Dr Vujica Lazović, Ambassador of Montenegro and H. E. Mrs Zorana Vlatković, Ambassador of the Republic of Serbia.
Main points of the debate focused on improvement in atmosphere regarding the enlargement, where Balkans are not presented in negative sense anymore; there is a good vibration coming from the EU regarding the regions integration process. Speakers agreed there is a need for a clear enlargement strategy in the region and the need to speed up the process, while they have remained aware that opening the negotiations is just the beginning of a long and challenging path. Panelists underlined the importance of European integration remaining key goal of their foreign policies, while public support for integration remains very high in all the countries, with no alternatives to be considered. Debate touched upon the reconciliation as a pre-requisite for European integration and regional cooperation, nationalistic narratives and wars that were not structurally addressed are hampering the enlargement process. Two main conclusions were drawn, first one being the importance of current positive atmosphere and second one the importance of not losing the momentum, where positive atmosphere should be translated into actions.
Views on the subject were given by H. E. Mr Paolo Trichilo, Ambassador of the Republic of Italy, H. E. Mr Bart Twaalfhoven, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, H. E. Mr Pawel Czerwiński, Ambassador of the Republic of Poland, H. E. Ms Edit Szilágyiné Bátorfi, Ambassador of Hungary, Nicola Stewart, UK Embassy and Zoran Stančič, Head of the European Commission Representation in Slovenia who stressed the importance of such events that are facilitating the integration process. They have argued very little progress was seen from the WB states in regards the integrations, while the current positive momentum should be used to advance their agenda in more aggressive way. Speakers agreed that from a policy perspective we are in a stage where interdependence between WB and EU is very high, due to different cross-state issues, such as refugee crisis and illegal trade, that cannot be resolved without the inclusion of the whole European region. They have agreed the debate on whether WB should enter or not is useless, since positions are clear, the prosperity of the EU clearly depends on the success of integration process, but on the other hand accessing countries are themselves responsible for acquiring proper acquis, meeting all the criteria and setting the pace of change. Importance of regional initiatives was underlined, where cooperation between the countries can help them in speeding up the process, while renewed political efforts are expected from WB countries.
We kindly invite you to the round table discussion »Light at the End of the Tunnel: Western Balkans & the European Union Part II«.
Round table will be held on Thursday, 7 December 2017, starting at 11 am, followed by a Pre-New Year’s Reception starting at 1 pm, at Jable Castle (Grajska cesta 1, 1234 Loka pri Mengšu, Slovenia).
The discussion will build upon the panel on the Western Balkans of Bled Strategic Forum 2017 that confirmed a clear message: the EU enlargement process carries a transformative power for the countries in the region (this message was supported by EU representatives, clearly stating that the future of the region lies within the EU). While the common values of the region and the EU are a strong driving force for both sides, some ministers still speak of alternatives, saying that a high level of support should not be taken for granted.
Welcome Address Dr Gorazd Justinek, Executive Director, Centre for European Perspective
Opening Remarks Mr Iztok Mirošič, State Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia
Panelists H. E. Dr Vujica Lazović, Ambassador of Montenegro (TBC) H. E. Mr Pëllumb Qazimi, Ambassador of the Republic of Albania H. E. Mr Nexhmi Rexhepi, Ambassador of Kosovo H. E. Mrs Zorana Vlatković, Ambassador of the Republic of Serbia.
Moderated by Mr Peter Grk, National Coordinator for Western Balkans, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia.
The discussion will be followed by a pre-New Year’s Reception, hosted by the Centre for European Perspective.
RSVP by 4 December: CEP-WesternBalkans
Event is organized by the Centre for European Perspective in cooperation with the Bled Strategic Forum international conference and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia.
A round table discussion “The Evolving and Ever-present Cyber Security” attracted a large crowd of participants from various fields interested in cyber security, ranging from academics, IT specialists, companies to embassy and ministry representatives, who discussed the evolving challenges on Friday, 17 November, in Ljubljana. The event was organized in the framework of the Bled Strategic Forum international conference in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia, Centre for European Perspective and Club Alpbach Senza Confini.
The event was open by Meliha Muherina, Project Manager at CEP, who briefly introduced the idea and organizers behind the event. The opening remarks were delivered by Miriam Možgan, cyber security coordinator at the Slovenian ministry of foreign affairs, who presented the recent engagements of Slovenia in its foreign policy in relation to the topic of cyber security; Domen Božeglav, adviser for digitalization in the office of the Slovenian minister of public administration, who continued with the internal aspect of Slovenian preparations and reactions to the cyber security developments; and Vesna Kuralt, president of Club Alpbach Senza Confini, who presented Forum Alpbach Network, its work and future plans for cooperation.
The panelists, Daniel Cohen, Head of the Strategy program at the Institute for International Diplomacy and a researcher at Blavatnik Interdisciplinary Cyber Research Institute, Dobran Božič, Director of the Government Office for the Protection of Classified Information, Gorazd Božič, Slovenian Computer Emergency Response Team, and Peter Geršak, International Business Machines Corporation, Slovenia, addressed various aspects of cyber security, starting with the question of the ownership of the infrastructure relevant to the cyber space. The dilemma of the agreement between the society, state and private companies on the ownership and regulation of the cyber space was discussed as one of the crucial questions in the times when the public demands protection from the state, emphasized Dobran Božič.
In contrast to the past perception of cyber-attacks as something that is in the domain of young hackers from the science fiction movies and books, the issue is considered as an act of organized crime today. The trends show that they are usually motivated by financial profits, said Gorazd Božič. Peter Geršak approached the discussion from the perspective of businesses, exposing the challenges of the protection of the devices that the employees use, lack of skills of employees in this field and the provision of advising services for the mitigation of the effects of cyber threats on businesses.
While a number of potential scenarios was discussed as the emerging trends in cyber-attacks, the worst-case scenarios would involve an attack on critical infrastructure, including energy sector, telecommunications and banking. Dobran Božič explained Slovenia’s and wider European preparations for such cases, also in the light of the recent EU Directive on Security of Network and Information System. Gorazd Božič exposed a number of already functioning response systems and expressed his positive view on the existing capabilities.
Daniel Cohen, specializing in cyber terrorism, elaborated on the challenges of the web and social media use in terrorist recruitment, especially in the case of ISIS, discussed fake news, elections meddling and information leaks, but also touched upon the rather unproductive cooperation between the public institutions and the private enterprises.
Internet of Things (IoT) was approached from the perspective of privacy protection of the citizens and the evolving public perception of private data sharing with the private corporations such as big international corporations and with the state, who on the other hand is expected to protect the citizens in case of a security breach. The round table discussion, moderated by Sabina Carli of CEP, also engaged into a vivid exchange of views relating to the challenges that are brought to both software developers and the authorities when it comes to encrypted communications, crypto, blockchain, internet voting and artificial intelligence.
On Friday, 17 November 2017, a roundtable discussion “The Evolving and Ever-present Cyber Security” will be taking place within the framework of the Bled Strategic Forum international conference in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia, Centre for European Perspective and Club Alpbach Senza Confini. The event will start with small refreshments at 16h in the Cafe of the City Museum of Ljubljana.
The roundtable will discuss main trends in cyber security and ways in which countries and companies are dealing with cyber threats. The ways in which IoT, block chain and cyber warfare are changing our lives and shaping our future will be explored.
The discussion will feature:
Mr Daniel Cohen, Head of the Strategy program at the Institute for International Diplomacy and a researcher at Blavatnik Interdisciplinary Cyber Research Institute
Major General Dobran Božič, Director of the Government Office for the Protection of Classified Information
Mr Gorazd Božič, Slovenian Computer Emergency Response Team
Mr Peter Geršak, International Business Machines Corporation, Slovenia
Please note, the discussion will be held in English.
RSVP: We kindly ask you to confirm your participation at by Tuesday, 14 November.
Centre for European Perspective is a proud co-organizer of the Bled Strategic Forum. This year’s forum brought together over 1000 participants from 66 countries in the world in order to address the most pressing issues of today’s world. Under the title “New Reality”, topics such as nuclear security, future of the European Union, enlargement and accession of the Western Balkans into the EU, water for peace and security and digital diplomacy were addressed. At the Business BSF special attention was devoted to innovation for and in the new reality, while Young BSF touched upon the concept of the 3E’s: ecology, economy and electronics.
CEP would like to thank all participants, speakers, moderators for their insightful contributions to the discussions and our most distinguished partners for making the conference possible.
The Bled Strategic Forum, the pre-eminent foreign policy event in Slovenia, ended on Tuesday after two days of reflections that focused on the technology-driven societal and economic change summed up by the forum’s title New Reality. Calls for common solutions to challenges posed by the changing world dominated the agenda of the first day, with senior Slovenian officials opening the forum by singling out challenges such as climate change and existing and emerging security threats.
Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec stressed that “we are facing new international actors” and “still struggle to address climate change and its negative global impact”. Prime Minister Miro Cerar noted that new challenges, which had “become the key driver of progress in society”, demanded new approaches.
The leader’s panel, the central event of the first day of proceedings, took a broad look at the technology-driven change shaping present-day society. While the participants found some cause for concern, they also exuded optimism.
The debate, featuring EU Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans, OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria, former Slovenian President Danilo Türk and Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić, dedicated a lot of time to debating youths, specifically how they can be activated and engaged in policy-making, and how to create jobs.
Several policy proposals were put forward, but the overarching suggestion was that youths should get active and participate in the democratic process to achieve change; being active on social media is not enough.
With the forum coming just a day after North Korea conducted its latest nuclear test, some of the debates also touched on the escalation of tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
Federica Mogherini, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said a cooperative rather than confrontational approach to existing challenges, including in North Korea and the Western Balkans, was needed.
Miroslav Lajčak, the president-elect for the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly, touched on North Korea indirectly by saying that such issues needed to be addressed by the UN General Assembly as the most representative UN body.
The second day featured over a dozen panels dedicated to issues such as the EU’s future, the progress of the Western Balkans towards the EU, global nuclear governance, human rights in time of change and Twitter diplomacy.
The panel on the EU in the changed world argued that the EU is facing numerous challenges, including a crisis of trust and identity. The key to its future lies in convergence, integration, cooperation and attention to people’s needs.
The debate on global nuclear governance saw South Korean Foreign Ministry official Enna Park saying that condemning the nuclear tests conducted by North Korea was not enough. She called for concrete action by the international community.
At the panel on Western Balkans, a mainstay of the forum, foreign ministers from the region were in broad agreement that the EU accession process has a transformative effect on the countries. But they also warned that the accession was taking too long and ought to be more predictable.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein presented his office’s activity and human rights developments in the world at a special panel. He highlighted an erosion of commitments built on the experience of enormous human suffering in the first half of the 20th century and was very critical of the US president.
In line with this year’s motto, the business segment of the BSF focused on various aspects of innovation and how it affects and changes society. It touched on connectivity and leading the change, as well as the relation between government and business in the globalised and digitalised world.
A special panel was dedicated to tourism, in particular the collaborative economy.
The debate revolved around whether and how to regulate the new providers without suffocating the growth, how cities should deal with growing number of tourists, and what the new providers, especially big platforms such as AirBnB, should do to allow policy makers to enforce efficient and just regulation.
Youth BSF, the segment featuring young leaders, featured debates under the banned (Dis)connected Reality, which were condensed in a nine-point manifesto dealing with electronics, the environment and the economy.
While the BSF followed the established formula, there was one novelty this year as Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajčak received a special accolade in being named a BSF distinguished partner for his enduring support of the purposes and principles of the forum.
Round table was moderated by Mr Peter Grk, National Coordinator for Western Balkans, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia, who argued that today we have the window of opportunity in the Western Balkans. Today, compared to 5 years ago, when President of European Commission Juncker said enlargement process is over, we had a speech where Juncker argued Serbia and Montenegro are expected to enter EU before 2025. That marks first time European Commission has set a date, causing change in enlargement atmosphere that until then was facing enlargement fatigue and enlargement patience. Question remains whether the date set is feasible, as well as what actions will be taken in order to close the economic gap between the countries in the region.
