4. 7. 2018 | Bled Strategic Forum, PR
The Third Regional Youth Forum took place in Novi Sad, Serbia last weekend (29 June – 1 July). The event gathered around 200 young opinionated leaders, between 18 and 35 years old, with a proven record of making an impact in their communities and offered them a place for knowledge sharing and dialogue through networking and a series of panel discussions. A delegation of the Bled Strategic Forum and Young Bled Strategic Forum attended the event as an introduction into a long-term cooperation between the institutions.
The participants at the opening ceremony were greeted by RYCO Secretary General Mr Đuro Blanuša who said that the Forum is looking for the answer to the question how to bring more Europe in the region and how to make a region more present in Europe. He underlined that the Forum’s participants are the future ambassadors of change and those who will create the future that we all want to see. During the opening ceremony, the participants were greeted by Serbian Prime Minister Ms Ana Brnabić who said that the youth of the region should put a pressure on the leaders and make them politically smarter and more active as this will bring “big things” for the region.
The Forum was attended by the mayors of Novi Sad and Tirana, Mr Miloš Vučević and Mr Erion Veliaj. The Mayor of Tirana said that the EU has done a lot for the region because it enabled movement, cooperation and made possible that Serbians and Albanians are today at the same event discussing a bright future. He argued that we need more Europe in the region because of this fact.
The Regional Youth Forum is organized by the European Movement in Serbia – Local Branch Novi Sad, the European Fund for the Balkans, the Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence, and in partnership with the Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) – ORF Promotion of EU Integration. Indispensable support was provided by the Provincial Government of Vojvodina, the City of Novi Sad and the Regional Cooperation Council.
The Forum’s conclusions will be presented at the upcoming London Summit in London within the Berlin Process, at the 8th edition of the Belgrade Security Forum, and the 2018 Young Bled Strategic Forum.
3. 7. 2018 | IECEU, PR
A new article The Berlin Process as an Actor in Internal Security and Counter-Terrorism: Opportunities and Pitfalls, written by Jelka Klemenc from DCAF Slovenia and Ivana Boštjančič Pulko from CEP deals with potential engagement of the Berlin Process in the internal security of the Western Balkans by focusing on the risks and regional security cooperation and reform.
After four years, the Berlin process remains a sparsely documented development. There are not many studies or assessments that would provide a comprehensive view and assessment on this significant initiative. Against this setting, this policy brief is intended to fill this gap in the area of internal security. The policy brief seeks opportunities for the potential engagement of the Berlin Process in Western Balkan internal security governance, points at the risks and draws on the lessons from available experience and views of practitioners engaged in regional initiatives and other efforts aimed at regional security cooperation and reform. The recommendations offered below are focusing mostly on how to achieve sustainability of the role of the Berlin Process as a potential internal security actor. The methodology of the paper is based on identification and subsequent analysis and assessment of official declarations, joint statements, public speeches, political statements, and press releases of the main EU and WB6 institutional actors in the field. It is completed with semistructured interviews with the beneficiaries and implementing stakeholders.
Read the paper here.
This brief was supported by the European Fund for the Balkans – a joint initiative of European Foundations, including the Robert Bosch Stiftung, the King Baudouin Foundation and the ERSTE Foundation through the 2018 Think and Link Regional Policy Programme.
28. 6. 2018 | PR, Serbia - Information exchange, Serbia - Migration, Slovenian Development Assistance
Advancements-orientated discussions regarding flow of information in illegal migrations took place during high-level workshop, which was successfully implemented in the period from 19 to 21 June 2018 on Zlatar, Serbia. The workshop was conducted in the framework of the implementation of international development cooperation of the Republic of Slovenia with the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Serbia, related to the support for the accession to the EU.
Hand-in-hand with Slovenian colleagues, Head of the EUROPOL’s European Migrant Smuggling Centre Robert Črepinko, specialist for the process of knowledge exchange dr Tatjana Dragovič and head of the workshop and this programme Andreja Dolničar Jeraj, representatives of various organisational units of the Ministry of interior of the Republic of Serbia, which participated in the field visit in April 2018, analysed, through various cases, the flow of information and operational cooperation in different situations involving illegal migrations, comparing the approach of Serbian police forces with approaches used in the EU and with experiences of Slovenia and looking towards improvements that can be achieved. The goal is to optimize the flow of information by putting to better use the current capacities and consequently, respond better to situations related to illegal migrations.
Project is part of program activities implemented in the cooperation with the Ministry of Interior/Police of the Republic of Slovenia and financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia in the framework of Slovenia’s Development Cooperation.
22. 6. 2018 | PR, Youth
“Here we come! – Conference on talent management and youth perspectives in the Western Balkans” took place on June 19 in Brussels where Sabina Carli of CEP presented our endeavors in the field of youth development, entrepreneurship, non-formal education recognition and Western Balkans perspective in the EU.
The conference, organised by the Antall József Knowledge Centre in cooperation with the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies, discussed the current challenges of young generations and the future of innovation and entrepreneurship in the Western Balkans.
Youth unemployment is one of the main drivers of emigration of young people all over the Balkans. The mass exodus of youth from the Southeast European neighbourhood is a severe consequence of sectoral problems, strongly related to unemployment, higher education systems, as well as to the job market conditions. In addition, these countries are also facing brain drain. In this complex situation, the role and importance of social responsibility and entrepreneurship are becoming more and more significant.
The speakers addressed very specific questions in the presence of Commissioner Tibor Navracsics, responsible for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport.
In a round table discussion, six young speakers from the Balkans set the scene while presenting current perspectives and challenges. Afterwards, a workshop took place, where the hosts and the participants exchanged their views on the possibilities of knowledge transfer, innovation, and entrepreneurship. In the afternoon, experts from the Western Balkans and Members of the European Parliament provided answers to the questions in the course of two panel discussions.
During the second panel discussion, representatives of NGOs and think tanks active in the region talked about the current challenges and best practices of youth policy in Southern Europe.
19. 6. 2018 | Bled Strategic Forum, PR
Cooperation between the Bled Strategic Forum 2018 – a leading international conference in Central and South-Eastern Europe – and the 51th MOS – one of the largest and most important trade fair events in Slovenia and this part of Europe – was announced on 13th of June at the press conference in Celje.
Newly established synergy between two of the most important conferences in Slovenia was presented by Dr Gorazd Justinek, executive director of Centre for European Perspective, co-organizer of Bled Strategic Forum 2018.
Bled Strategic Forum, which will take place between 10th and 11th of September 2018, brings together a diverse set of participants, including heads of state and government, ministers, diplomats, businesspeople, scholars and experts, youth, and media from around the world. With over 1000 participants (included 1 head of state, 2 heads of government, 16 foreign and 27 other ministers, 14 representatives of international organizations and 28 other high-level guests) from 66 countries, the 2017 Bled Strategic Forum was the biggest and most successful event in its history.
International Trade Fair MOS will take place right after Bled Strategic Forum, between 11 and 16 of September 2016. It is a business crossroads for innovations, development and the latest advances, providing superb opportunities to drive business forward and an opportunity to directly target customers. It is also a venue for showcasing new products and services, offering an insight into the main challenges that entrepreneurs and craftsmen have to face in everyday business environment.
Bled Strategic Forum and MOS recognize the synergies between the operations and missions of both international conferences and therefore plan to cooperate on the content preparations and discussions.
Together, we will enrich not only each other’s events, but Slovenian conference activities and recognisability in the world as well.
12. 6. 2018 | Montenegro - Environment, PR
In the framework of the project “Support to the Development of Policies for Efficient Use of Resources”, inter-ministerial workshop took place at the Ministry for Sustainable Development and Tourism of Montenegro from 5 to 7 June 2018.
On the initiative of the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in Podgorica, the project is implemented in the framework of the Slovenia’s development cooperation programme with Montenegro and in the framework of the assistance of Slovenia to Montenegro in the accession to the EU.
Workshop started with an introduction speech by Mr. Ešef Husić, Acting Director General for Climate Changes and Mediterranean Issues, Ms. Aleša Sovinc, Minister Plenipotentiary, the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in Podgorica and Ms. Andreja Dolničar Jeraj, Programme Director from the Centre for European Perspective. Educational and interactive part of the workshop was carried out by Ms. Marjana Dermelj, Office of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia for Development and European Cohesion Policy and Ms. Alenka Burja, green public procurement expert.
In a three-day interactive workshop, representatives of the Montenegrin public administration got acquainted with trends of the European Union and Slovenian experiences on strategic planning, resource efficiency, circular economy and green public procurement.
In this way, Republic of Slovenia assured tangible support to Montenegro in its efforts of achieving one of the national strategic goals – to lower the gap between consumption of natural resources and average consumption of resources in the EU. Their goal is to become greener and more competitive and reach target value from the Agenda Europe 2020.
At the end of the workshop, participants discussed about the implementation of certain concrete policy activities in the field of resource efficiency, circular economy and green public procurement, which could have positive effect on the impetus to the realization of the Action plan on sustainable development and where continuous support of Republic of Slovenia would be valued.
Project is part of program activities implemented in the cooperation with theGovernment Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy and financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia in the framework of Slovenia’s Development Cooperation.
