7. 7. 2022 | Bled Strategic Forum, PR
On Tuesday, 5 June the Bled Strategic Forum and the Centre for European Perspective were honoured to host the discussion with H. E. Dr Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu, President of the Republic of Kosovo and Mr Vojko Volk, State Secretary for International Affairs from the Office of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia.
The event titled ‘Western Balkans: Where do we go from here?’ focused on the EU enlargement process with H. E. Dr Osmani pointing out that the EU now “finally, after decades, looks at enlargement as a geostrategic concept, rather as a bureaucratic process”. While it can be discussed if this has changed due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine or in spite of it, the fact that Ukraine and Moldova were given candidate status shortly after submitting membership applications, did trigger a debate on whether the EU wants at all to admit the remaining six Western Balkan countries to full membership. And since 19 years have passed since the adoption of the Thessaloniki agenda for the Western Balkans, other than the promises about the European perspective of the respective countries, no such concrete steps have happened with respect to their membership in the EU.
The visit of Dr Osmani to Slovenia did reinforce Slovenian support for the process, with Mr Volk reinforcing the support for the continuation at Tuesday’s discussion, stating: “This region [Western Balkans] is our courtyard and it should all become the EU. The sooner, the better”. The discussion, moderated by BSF Secretary General, Peter Grk, also touched upon the current situation in the Western Balkans and the public’s opinion on the enlargement process, Kosovo’s future perspective, Russian influence in the Western Balkans and more.
You can watch the video of the discussion here
5. 7. 2022 | PR, Serbia - management of patrols
Klikni tukaj za več o projektu v slovenščini 
Workshops to integrate new police directorates into a state-of-the-art remote patrol management system were held in Serbia from 27 June to 1 July 2022. This is an ICT solution developed by the Serbian police on the basis of Slovenian know-how within the framework of the international development assistance of the Republic of Slovenia and has been successfully used for some time in the police directorates Sremska Mitrovica, Vranje, Bor, Pirot, Požarevac, and Zaječar.
The workshops that just took place were organized for representatives of the police directorates Užice, Pančevo, Novi Pazar, and Šabac, which have newly joined this patrol management system.
Representatives from the police directorates Ljubljana and Novo Mesto of the Police of the Republic of Slovenia and representatives of police directorates Sremska Mitrovica, Vranje, and Požarevac of the Police of the Republic of Serbia joined efforts as mentors and as active interlocutors in these workshops.
They gave workshop participants first-hand insights into how the system works and the positive experiences they have had and shared the advantages of the system that enable them to work more efficiently. They highlighted better responsiveness to people’s needs and other security challenges, increased safety of police officers when performing police tasks in the field, more efficient use of human and other resources of the Ministry of the Interior, and better service for citizens. The workshops also included a visit to the Police directorate Zaječar, where the participants had the opportunity to see and test the operation of the new patrol management system in practice. With the knowledge they acquired, they were also able to immediately engage in the new system, which has now been extended to 10 police administrations.
Participants agreed that changes towards increased patrol management capacity are necessary and welcome, not only for the more efficient operation of the police in Serbia but also to meet EU standards, which is also of utmost importance in the process of European integration.
The activities that Slovenia and Serbia have carried out in partnership in recent years within the framework of international development cooperation confirm the good bilateral relations between the two countries and significantly contribute to the constant progress and development of the Serbian police and strengthen the professional and friendly ties between these two important institutions.
The workshops that just took place confirmed this once again, while also indicating that there is an interest in further cooperation and additional activities in this direction in the future as well.
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
4. 7. 2022 | PR, Strengthening Societal Resilience and Countering Foreign Perpetrated Disinformation in 6 Western Balkans Countries
Mengeš, 4 July 2022 – Democracy report 2021* by V-Dem Institute shows that an overall decline in democratic standards is noticeable around the globe. A wave of autocratization has reached Europe as well. A big problem in countries with a decline in democratic standards is the polarization of societies. Disinformation contributes greatly to this polarization with the use of misinformation to shape domestic and international opinion.
We are happy to introduce the new CEP publication titled ‘Information war and fight for truth’, which is the result of cooperation between various stakeholders in the Western Balkans in the framework of the project “Strengthening societal resilience and countering foreign perpetrated disinformation in 6 Western Balkans countries”.
This publication seeks to provide insight into the situation in the Western Balkans and the harmful effects of foreign perpetrated disinformation. The use of disinformation tactics is not a new phenomenon, especially with the spread of modern technology that helps move information faster. The amount of misinformation in the past years has increased enormously and it threatens societies in a way that inflicts divisions, undermines democratic values and stalls EU integration processes. Counternarratives about climate change allow countries and corporations to ignore the effect of their actions on the planet Earth. Misinformation on vaccines in the COVID-19 pandemic has even cost lives. Moreover, we have witnessed the two-tracked war in Ukraine: the one on the ground and the information war.
As the authors of this publication show foreign, mostly Russian disinformation is strongly present in the Western Balkans with the aim to keep the region politically unstable and to slow its path to the EU. Experts from the Western Balkans write about the interconnectedness of Russian and local media, and disinformation about the war in Ukraine in the region.
Read and download the publication HERE.
The project is funded by the National Endowment for Democracy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia through the program activities of international development cooperation.
20. 6. 2022 | PR, Serbia - management of patrols
Klikni tukaj za več o projektu v slovenščini
The Serbian police developed a system for more efficient patrol management with Slovenian development assistance. The system has been introduced and is already being used successfully in the field of six police administrations: Sremska Mitrovica, Vranje, Bor, Pirot, Požarevac in Zaječar. The system will now be extended also to the other administrations.
For this purpose, from 27 June to 1 July 2022, interactive workshops will be held in Serbia for representatives of the organizational units of the police administrations of Užice, Šabac, Novi Pazar and Pančevo, which are next in line to join the system. At the workshops, the participants will be introduced to the functioning of the system for patrol management. Moreover, they will be able to exchange information with Serbian and Slovenian colleagues who have been already using the system and know it well.
The changes introduced by the Serbian police aim to improve the responsiveness of police patrols so they respond to the needs of the people, improve the coordination of police work in the field, the protection of police officers in the performance of their policing duties, and ensure the protection of law and order, also in the context of migration. Along the way, the Serbian police strive to make changes in line with EU criteria and standards. In doing so, they also rely on the continued support of the Republic of Slovenia.
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
14. 6. 2022 | POTC, PR
Klikni tukaj za branje prispevka v slovenskem jeziku.
Between the 7th and 10th May 2022, the Peace Operations Training Centre (POTC) has successfully implemented the first module on EU project management in Prijedor, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Improved capacities for project proposal preparation will help Bosnia and Herzegovina to work more closely with EU partners and secure more EU funding for BiH’s development.
23 local government officials and NGO representatives from municipalities surrounding Prijedor participated in a four-day training program delivered by Slovenian experts Gorazd Jenko and Slavka Zupan. During these days, they shared knowledge and practical expertise on EU project management with a particular focus on the application procedures. Interactive lessons and group work constituted a large part of the training program and the facilitators steered participants towards establishing concrete project proposal ideas. Participants will continue working on project ideas and will form them into concrete ready-to-submit proposals in Module 2 that will be delivered in Prijedor in September.
The project was carried out with the support of the Slovenian Ministry of Defence and the Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
13. 6. 2022 | Macedonia - Finance, PR
Klikni tukaj za branje prispevka v slovenskem jeziku.
In line with the recommendations of the European Commission, North Macedonia is stepping up its efforts to improve the effectiveness of law enforcement in fighting certain forms of crime, such as money laundering and financial crimes.
Financial investigations leading to the confiscation of proceeds of crime derived from offenses and illicit assets are weapons, which the Macedonian investigative and law enforcement authorities are using with increasing frequency and success in the fight against organized crime and corruption.
On this path, Slovenia offers support and assistance to North Macedonia through international development cooperation. In the framework of this program, 17 representatives from the units of key institutions dealing with financial investigations in North Macedonia: the Ministry of the Interior, the Customs Administration, the Financial Police Office, and the State Prosecutor’s Office, were hosted for a working visit from 6 to 9 June 2022.
During the first part of the working visit, the Macedonian participants met with some senior officials and other representatives of institutions dealing with financial investigations in Slovenia: the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office, the Specialised State Prosecutor’s Office, the Financial Administration, and the Ministry of the interior, where they had the opportunity to exchange experiences and learn about the work of their Slovenian colleagues.
The second part of the visit was followed by practical workshops in the field, where simulated financial investigations were carried out. The extremely intensive agenda demonstrated the good preparedness of the Macedonian investigative authorities, who had the opportunity to test their operational performance in practice as well as the implementation of the Common Guidelines adopted by the Macedonian institutions in 2019 in Ljubljana.
The working visit showed that Macedonian institutions and investigative authorities have made remarkable progress in making financial investigations more effective, which was confirmed not only by their Slovenian mentor and colleagues but also by the participants themselves.
The working visit participants expressed their gratitude to Slovenia for its friendly assistance and continued support for North Macedonia’s reform efforts on the path to the EU, and were assured by their Slovenian colleagues and interlocutors that they can count on Slovenia’s support in the future.
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 State Prosecution, Financial Administration, Ministry of the Interior and the Police of the Republic of Slovenia.
Further information:
Andreja Dolničar Jeraj
Programme Director
Centre for European Perspective
