27. 8. 2021 | Bled Strategic Forum, PR
The 2021 edition of Bled Strategic Forum will take place between 1st and 2nd of September in Bled under the title “Future of Europe”. It will for the 16th time and in spite of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in one place gather distinguished foreign and Slovenian political leaders and leading experts from spheres of economy, research and development, science, technology and civil society.
Main event will be between 30th and 31st August preceded by Young Bled Strategic Forum where young leaders will try to find solutions to some of the world’s most pressing issues through interactive discussions and workshops.
Europe and with it the EU have been faced, over a relatively short period of time, with a number of difficult situations, ranging from financial and migration crises, Brexit and COVID-19 pandemic that have challenged the organization’s values and standards, but also decreased the level of trust in international law and organizations. It would therefore be fair to say that those experiences affect the social, economic and political structure of the world, Europe, the EU, its member states and every single individual. Tackling demographic challenges, investing in youth, R&D, digital and green projects, infrastructure, energy, digital connectivity and artificial intelligence is therefore an essential part of EU’s post-crisis recovery alongside with putting more emphasis on increasing its political power on the global stage and building strong partnerships with its allies. Consequently, this year’s Bled Strategic Forum will through a plethora of panels and with the help of numerous experts try to shed light on our common way forward.
Central theme of this year’s Bled Strategic Forum is the future of Europe and a call for increasing its resilience. As the leading international conference in Central and South-Eastern as well as unique, open and inclusive platform on Europe’s key challenges of the 21st century it will host over 170 visible speakers and panellists. Among them are EU senior representatives, such as President of the European Parliament David Sassoli, President of the European Council Charles Michel, Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi and European Commission Vice-President for Democracy and Demography Dubravka Šuica. They will be accompanied by former ministers, current ministers and presidents of governments and countries, senior representatives of European and international institutions, civil society representatives such as Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, representatives of global companies such as Facebook, Google, ESA, NASA, Microsoft and Generali, and representatives of academic and research organizations.
Key topics for panel discussions
Bled Strategic Forum 2021 is also one of the main events taking place during the second Slovenian Presidency of the EU Council, under the slogan “Together. Resilient. Europe.” Future of Europe, sustainability, digitalisation and Transatlantic relations are common key topics on which Slovenia and with it Bled Strategic Forum build and encourage dialogue. That is why, on the first day, European Heads of State and senior representatives will discuss the main challenges for the future of the EU, including enlargement. Among the topics to be discussed on Day 1 will also be post-epidemic recovery, green and digital transformation, and the future of European integration.
Key topics of the Day 2 will be the importance of transatlantic cooperation and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, regional challenges in the Eastern Partnership countries, stability in the Mediterranean and joint governance of the Adriatic Sea, climate change and responses to it, digitalisation, cyber security, and economic recovery and tourism.
Young Bled Strategic Forum
The Young Bled Strategic Forum, this year under the title Future of Europe – Youth at the Centre, has been held as part of the main event since 2011 and enables the younger generations to actively participate in society. 2021 edition will focus on the possibilities and opportunities for the active participation of young people in European affairs while also addressing problems they face and the tools they lack to guarantee that youth really is the future of Europe. Two-day event will enable young participants to actively work towards constructing a draft declaration or rather a blueprint of the European future through capacity building, consultations, interactive workshops, round table discussions and other structured activities.
Partnerships and cooperations
Since 2006 Bled Strategic Forum has hosted more than 100,000 participants from 100 countries, more than 30 Heads of State and Government, more than 300 ministers, more than 100 representatives of international organizations and followed more than 400 hours of discussions.
This year’s and all previous years’ realisations of the Forum would not be possible without the support of the partners and sponsors. Among them this year are numerous institutional partners with whom we co-create expert side events and talks.
* Event will be live streamed online and therefore open to anyone. Look for the link on the Bled Strategic Forum website and Facebook page.
7. 7. 2021 | Macedonia - Finance, Macedonia - Resources, PR
Klikni tukaj za branje prispevka v slovenskem jeziku. 
As part of the Slovenian Development Cooperation Program, from 29 June to 2 July 2021, workshops were conducted in North Macedonia needed for the development of capacities in conducting financial investigations and for confiscating assets of crime and property of illegal origin from criminals.
The European Union pays particular attention to the prevention and fight against organized and serious crime by stepping up the activities of law enforcement agencies to confiscate proceeds of crime and property of illegal origin. This issue is important within the EU, as well as in the integration of the Republic of North Macedonia into the European Union. Financial investigations will be one of the key indicators that the EU will monitor when assessing the fulfilment of the criteria for EU membership.
Financial investigations are an extensive professional interdisciplinary field, where Slovenian development cooperation has been providing support to law enforcement agencies in North Macedonia for several years, and this time the work was carried out by exchanging expertise in analytics and standard operating procedures in conducting financial investigations. Thirty-two representatives of all relevant Macedonian institutions actively attended the workshops: the Ministry of Interior, State Prosecution, Financial Police, Customs Administration, Tax Administration and Financial Intelligence Office. On the Slovenian side as well, comprehensive cooperation was ensured – representatives of key Slovenian bodies for conducting financial investigations participated: the Ministry of the Interior and the Police, State Prosecution for Organised Crime and Corruption and Financial Administration.
The project is part of the programme activities of Slovenia’s Development Cooperation Programme financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia and carried out together with the State Prosecution, Financial Administration, Ministry of Interior and Police of the Republic of Slovenia.
Further information:
Andreja Dolničar Jeraj
Programme Director
Centre for European Perspective
30. 6. 2021 | EUPCST, PR
Protection of cultural heritage encompasses numerous issues ranging from regular maintenance to natural catastrophes and armed conflicts. Its importance led the EU to add cultural heritage protection to the tasks of the Common Security and Defence Policy missions as it can mean relevant support to the goals of missions, especially if provided for in the mission mandate.
In light of the growing importance of cultural heritage protection in an operational environment, the Centre for European Perspective is organising the pilot edition of the Online Training on Cultural Heritage Protection. The training will take place in the period from the 15th to the 17th of September 2021.
The online lectures, workshops and participatory activities will cover the basic topics and will ensure all participants understand what cultural heritage protection entails, its international legal framework, relevant institutions dealing with protection globally; what the basic instruments and methods for the protection of cultural heritage are and how the EU’s approach looks on the ground.
Photo credit: Rashan Chudasana for Unsplash
![[Invitation] July 15 – The Future of the Transatlantic Relations – Priorities for the Slovenian Presidency](https://www.cep.si/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Webinar-CEP-ECIPE-1000x560px-1.png)
30. 6. 2021 | PR, Transformative Power of Digital
The Centre for European Perspective – CEP and the European Centre for International Political Economy – ECIPE invite you to a webinar:
The Future of the Transatlantic Relations – Priorities for the Slovenian Presidency
Thursday, 15 July, 15.00 CET
There is a new energy in EU-US relations. Digitalisation played a crucial role during the pandemic to keep the society going, and its role will only grow in the coming years. China’s rise as a technological power and the desire to protect liberal values, such as democracy and human rights, have made it urgent to deepen the partnership with like-minded countries on technology and digital trade. The recently established Trade and Technology Council (TTC) demonstrates that both the EU and the US are keen to deepen their relations and promote faster tech-enabled growth.
Join our panel of experts to discuss:
- What should be the focus of the TTC? How to achieve better market access and streamline differing regulations?
- What role can transatlantic cooperation play in the EU’s recovery plan?
- How can the transatlantic partnership help transform the European digital environment?
- Can Europe’s unilateral (regulatory) actions or the quest for strategic autonomy hurt the reinvigorated cooperation and the newly established TTC?
- What are the core problems in Europe’s path towards a technologically advanced digital economy?
Speakers:
- Dr Stanislav Raščan, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Slovenia
- Fredrik Erixon, Director of the European Centre for International Political Economy
- Joanna van der Merwe, fellow, Defense Tech Initiative, Center for European Policy Analysis
- Heli Tiirmaa-Klaar, Ambassador-at-Large, Director of Cyber Diplomacy Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Estonia
- Rihards Kols, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Latvian Parliament (TBC)
Moderator: TBA
26. 6. 2021 | European Digital Diplomacy Exchange, PR
36 Digital Diplomats from 11 countries gathered between 21 and 25 June 2021 in Bar, Montenegro for a five-day European Digital Diplomacy Exchange training, which was organized by the Centre for European Perspective together with the U.S. Department of State.
Our first in-person training – after March 2020 – was a success. An amazing group of highly motivated individuals went through fully packed five-day training that consisted of many interesting lectures and workshops relating to the field of digital diplomacy.
In the first three days, participants were able to listen to and participate in various sessions and workshops aimed to improve their digital communication skills. In the evening, our Steering Board members were put in the spotlight as we held round table discussions about crisis communication, tips and tricks, and influencer marketing. The fourth day was dedicated to the simulation – participants were given a scenario and had to put in practice all the gathered knowledge from the first three days. On the fifth day, they presented their work and got feedback from the panel of experts.
Although there were many concerns and issues to be resolved due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was a complete success and took place in a productive atmosphere, with no positive COVID-19 cases.
Make sure to check out the European Digital Diplomacy Exchange webpage to learn more about the project and check out their Be Digital Diplomat blog.
21. 6. 2021 | PR, V4
Under the auspices of the ‘Cooperation Instrument for the Western Balkans Think Tanks – THINK BALKANS’ project, financially supported by the International Visegrad Fund and implemented by the Institute for Democracy “Societas Civilis” – Skopje (IDSCS), in cooperation with the European Movement in Serbia (EMinS), Platforma CiviKos from Kosovo, Politikon Network from Montenegro, Albanian Institute for International Studies (AIIS) from Albania, Humanity in Action from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Centre for European Perspective (CEP) from Slovenia, Centre for Eastern Studies from Poland (OSW), Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade from Hungary (IFAT), the Research Centre of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association (RC SFPA) from Slovakia, and EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy (EUROPEUM) from the Czech Republic, between 7 and 11 June, IDSCS coordinated the first round of on-site study visits by the Visegrad Group (V4) researchers to the Western Balkans (WB6) capitals.
Researchers from the Czech Republic (EUROPEUM), Hungary (IFAT), and Poland (OSW), together with their local WB6 think tank hosts and IDSCS as project coordinator attended meetings with representatives from the WB6 ministries of foreign affairs (MFAs), parliaments, civil society, and political parties.
During the meetings, the participants and hosts of the study visits presented the goals, deliverables, and upcoming activities of the THINK BALKANS project and called for future political and financial support through IVF and WBF, necessary for the official establishment of the permanent mechanism for cooperation between WB6 expert community and WB6 MFAs. The study visits also served as fact-checking missions aimed at providing them with the V4 guest researchers with the necessary information for the production of V4 partners’ short-term analysis on the lessons learned from WB6.
The impact of the study visits is four-fold. The Bosnian, Montenegrin, Serbian and Kosovar MFAs congratulated on the achieved results of the THINK BALKANS project, greeted the cooperation between the V4 and WB6 think tanks, and MFAs, calling for its future deepening, and committed to greater cooperation and support of the THINK BALKANS consortium. Furthermore, the representatives of MFA underlined the need for the expertise provided by the local authors from the region and expressed a genuine willingness to learn from the Visegrad Group experience. They mentioned common challenges like the green agenda and pollution, which should be addressed in the framework of this cooperation. During the meeting, the participants also discussed the establishment of the contact points in the ministry for such cooperation. The other stakeholders, interlocutors at these study visits, especially MPs and CSOs, expressed interest in greater cooperation, expertise and knowledge sharing within the Western Balkans, as well as across V4 and WB6. Last, the visiting V4 researchers gained a better understanding of the context in the WB6 countries for establishing the Think Balkans platform and exchanged their experience and know-how from the Think Visegrad with the stakeholders in the region.
For more about the study visits, read here.
