7. 8. 2019 | Bled Strategic Forum, PR, V4, Youth
Centre for European Perspective has together with Bosnia and Herzegovina Association for United Nations and supported by International Visegrad Fund, organized a 2-day event that opened the floor to youth and civil society of the Western Balkans, V4 and EU, giving them a chance to discuss their concerns, challenges, ideas and prospects with policy makers and experts.
Event was held on 5th and 6th August in Hotel Europe, Sarajevo and was attended by around 50 participants coming from different spheres of the society.
Opening words to the event were delivered by Mr Amer Kapetanović, Head of Political Department at Regional Cooperation Council. Mr Kapetanović stressed the importance of youth and regional cooperation, while also gave some insight into the latest Balkan Barometer, that shows a gloomy situation in the Balkans.
First panel titled “Youth and Euro-Atlantic Integrations of Western Balkans and the role of V4” featured
- Katja Geršak, Director, Centre for European Perspective (CEP)
- Jan Zlatan Kulenović, CEO, Social Innovation Incubator MUNJA
- Dr Filip Radunović, Sector Fund Manager, Open Regional Fund Southeastern Europe – EU Integration, GIZ Sarajevo
- Anna Orosz, Research fellow, Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade (IFAT)
- Vladimír Bartovic, Director, EUROPEUM
and was moderated by Jasmina Banjalučkić, Secretary General, Youth Council of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Panel explored the experience of EU, V4 and WB in better involvement of youth, as well as their role in Euro-Atlantic integrations of WB.
Second panel titled “Let’s talk about Cross-Regional Cooperation: WB6, V4 and EU” featured
- H.E Jakub Skalník, Ambassador of the Czech Republic
- Ms Ágnes Angyal Chargé d’Affaires, Embassy of Hungary
- H.E Jarosław Lindenberg, Ambassador of the Republic of Poland
- Mr Attila Szép, Counsellor, Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of the Slovak Republic
- Borut Valenčič, Charge d’affaires, Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia
and was moderated by Mak Selimović, President, Bosnia and Herzegovina Association for United Nations, discussed why is cross-regional cooperation important in the SEE region and whether or not the-already-existing cross-regional cooperation between V4 and WB6 can be further developed in resolving complex matters of common interest. Round-table also served as an occasion to asses cross-regional opportunities, threats and obstacles in cooperation. Event was concluded by a reception where all the participants and speakers continued the discussion in an informal atmosphere.
Second day was dedicated to Visegrad Café where each table covered one topic and each table had project representatives who moderated and facilitated the discussion. Public contributed to the discussion on each of the topics and supported it with a pre-prepared set of data, research conclusions and materials. Participants have switched the tables after 30 minutes to converse with a new mix of participants. Once all rounds of conversation were complete, project partner representatives presented the main conclusions of each discussion. Topics discussed were Democratization, Human Rights, Sustainable Development and Reconciliation.
20. 5. 2019 | Bled Strategic Forum, PR, Youth
The Young Bled Strategic Forum (Young BSF) is an annual conference bringing together young leaders to engage in lively discussion and develop out-of-the-box solutions to some of the most pressing world issues. The Young BSF model has been growing and changing and has become a unique meeting place for a diverse array of young leaders, entrepreneurs, influencers, thinkers and social activists and thus, offering them a platform to share their visions, exchange ideas and connect with one-another. The Young BSF 2019 will host young leaders under the title “Youth as a (future) (re)source”.
Young BSF 2019 will reflect the topics of the BSF and focus on sources and resources of (in)stability and look up at young people as a (re)source for the future. The young people that will attend this year’s edition of Young BSF will prove youth is a valuable resource in several ways. Young people are not solely valued as potential contributors to society, in their status as adults-to-be, but also in their present status as youth, whereby they contribute to society for the very reason that they are young, full of innovative ideas and able of thinking out of the box.
Special emphasis at the Young Bled Strategic Forum will be given to the cross-regional cooperation. A new generation of leaders will demonstrate that such cooperation is not only necessary, but rather inevitable for positive next steps in democratization, advancement of human rights, sustainable development, women empowerment, counter-terrorism and climate change. To do this, young leaders have to learn from their peers from different regions, share their knowledge, ideas and know-how. Sustainable regional cooperation programs are the key towards a comprehensive, inclusive, and innovative approach that engages youth and prepares agents for change.
Strong, committed and inclusive democratic youth leadership will be of crucial importance for the process of democratization, conscientious European integration and future EU expansion in general. In our efforts to build a structured regional cooperation we must therefore bring young leaders on board in order to build tighter ties among civil societies, offer room for youth-to-youth exchanges, and enable a continuous flow of information and knowledge among the EU member states and non-EU states.
Youth, being the essential cornerstone of dynamic civil societies, should be given an opportunity to:
- Contribute to the regional integration,
- Be the herald of European values and democratic leadership with dedication and perseverance,
- Identify topics of common interest and tackle issues of shared concern for communities in the region.
Young leaders will also be selected to participate as speakers at the main event. This practice has proven its worth in past editions and to the benefit of BSF, as it brought innovative solutions and shed a light on youth perspectives. Youth will through active participation at BSF have an opportunity to meet the leaders from the governmental, business and nongovernmental sectors and join them in discussions addressing salient issues.
Young Bled Strategic Forum is committed to ensuring equal opportunities to attend the YBSF are available to young leaders, regardless of their ability to pay. We work closely with our partners to provide all of our participants with accommodation, while a number of travel grants for candidates of various backgrounds and nationalities will be ensured. Travel grants may be awarded to selected participants on an individual basis and only up to the amount decided by the organizers, while we will ensure regional and expertise representation.
Countries eligible for the travel grant: Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Ukraine.
The selected participants are expected to join in the extensive preparations and pre-event online meetings. Please note that the official language of the event is English, and that this is a prerequisite for participation in our activities. Only selected participants will be notified.
Apply by 10th of June 2019 at the latest.
For any additional inquiries, do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected]
16. 5. 2019 | Bled Strategic Forum, PR
Centre for European Perspective has together with Bled Strategic Forum supported Salient – Youth Conference titled “The Transatlantic Divide”
The Salient conference has always been about great content delivered in innovative ways. This year they have taken their approach a step further by introducing a 1+4 format: one whole day dedicated to public discussions with experts, policy-makers and political representatives, followed by four days of crisis-driven MUN and MEU simulations. This approach aims at providing a more focused learning experience that will give participants an opportunity to deepen their conceptual knowledge of the issues before testing it out in practice.
CEP has actively participated in one round table, titled “The Iran Deal: Beyond Salvageable?”, with CEP Executive Director Katja Geršak as a panelist, and project manager Meliha Muherina as moderator. The second panelist on the panel was Jožef Kunič, Former Ambassador to Iran.
The dispute over the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the ‘Iran deal’ has split European countries and United States. US Presidents’ decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal has led to serious transatlantic tensions. The disagreement and withdrawal came when bilateral issues between the two traditional allies have been compromised by many discords, such as trade tariffs, ecological policies, US Presidents complaints about Europe’s low defense spending and others. But the disagreement over the Iran nuclear deal is worrying because not only does it damage already detached transatlantic relationships but also due to the underlying political issue on dealing with the revolutionary regime in Tehran. Iran’s nuclear ambitions, aggression in the region and support for terrorism call for strong transatlantic unity. Instead, the West is divided. The panel that leaded to an active dialogue addressed the historical events leading to the current situation, its geostrategic importance as well as developed various possible scenarios for the future.
CEP is dedicated to supporting youth initiatives and looks forward to participating in future editions.
For more info about Salient please visit the Salient website.
17. 12. 2018 | Bled Strategic Forum, PR
Bled Strategic Forum Secretary General took part in First annual forecasting event “EU and Western Balkans in 2019”, held in Belgrade.
Event, organised by European Fund for the Balkans, Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group (BiEPAG) and European Western Balkans, gathered more than 30 most influential opinion makers from the region and EU who gave their predictions about the trends and dynamics of policy developments in 2019. The aim of the discussions was to exchange views and to make conclusions that could influence the political decisions in the upcoming turbulent year.
What will post-election and post-Brexit EU look like? What could be predicted considering bilateral issues and regional cooperation in the Western Balkans? What trends the region could expect regarding the state of democracy, rule of law and media freedom? These are some of the topics discussed.
Main conclusion of the event was that European Union will not have the time for Western Balkans next year and, therefore, new energy for fight against stagnation and captured state has to be found. Read more about the discussion at
30. 11. 2018 | Bled Strategic Forum, PR
BSF representatives, BSF Programme Director Ambassador Mirošič and Young BSF Programme Director Ms Muherina, have participated at MED – Mediterranean Dialogues, which is the annual high-level initiative promoted by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and ISPI (Italian Institute for International Political Studies) in Rome. The event aims at drafting a “positive agenda” for the Mediterranean by stimulating debate and promoting new ideas, rethinking traditional approaches and addressing shared challenges at both the regional and the international level.
The four pillars
Rome MED builds upon four pillars: Shared Prosperity, Shared Security, Migration, and Civil Society and Culture. Debates on these topics are intended to complement analyses of current challenges with new ideas and suggestions to scale-up economic cooperation, overcome regional rivalries and conflicts, and ensure that adequate incentives for sustainable development are set in motion.
More info about the event can be found at https://med.ispionline.it/
23. 10. 2018 | Bled Strategic Forum, PR
The eighth Belgrade Security Forum titled “Finding Answers Together to the New Normal” concluded on Friday, with the members of the Executive Board Sonja Licht, Suzana Grubješić and Sonja Stojanović Gajić agreeing that EU should change its approach to the Balkans, and vice versa, that the Balkans should change its approach to the Union.
The discussions have been followed by a delegation of the Bled Strategic Forum, which has for over a decade addressed the questions and challenges of development and integration of the Western Balkans. Such discussions need to be hosted both inside the WB6, in the region and at the European stage as a multi-level approach is needed to successfully lead the countries onto the European future.
“It is extremely important that we have managed to bring the global debate home”, said President of the Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence Sonja Licht, summing up the impressions from the Forum.
She emphasised that, during the three days of Forum, “great sessions” focused on Middle East, Asian Century and the fourth industrial revolution took place, and assessed that those topics may not be as important on a daily political level, but that they will determine our future. Her recommendation for Serbia is to open itself, to learn and do as much as possible to ensure that its education system and citizens follow the new trends, such as fourth industrial revolution, which brings new reality.
“We have to be ready for it, even as a small and relatively underdeveloped country. We can leap very high if we prepare ourselves on time”, remarked Licht.
Bled Strategic Forum and Belgrade Security Forum are already seeking for common grounds that will be addressed at future forums and other events throughout the year.
