Belgrade – ESI at anniversary conference of the European Fund for the Balkans

On 16 and 17 April ESI's deputy chairman Kristof Bender attended the 10th anniversary event of the European Fund for the Balkans in Belgrade. He spoke at a panel discussion on "Time for a New European Balkan Partnership" moderated by Ivan Vejvoda of the Institute for Human Sciences from Vienna. Other panelists included former Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic, former European Parliament Vice-President Hannes Swoboda, RCC head Goran Svilanovic and former Austrian Vice-Chancellor Erhard Busek.

Kristof also gave a long interview to Nikola Burazer of the European Western Balkans on the European Commission's new enlargement strategy, the importance of a European vision, the 2025 date for Montenegro and Serbia, Kosovo's prospects and the challenges related to the rule of law.

• EFB 10th anniversary event
• European Western Balkans, Nikola Burazer, "[EWB Interview] Bender: EU needs to clearly define accession criteria on rule of law" (25 April 2018)
• b92, "Spain "made it clear Kosovo has no EU perspective"" (25 April 2018)
• JavaNews, "EWB: Kosova, shumë larg BE-së" ("EWB: Kosovo, far from the EU") (25 April 2018)
• b92, "Bender: Kosovo nema perspektivu za članstvo u EU" ("Bender: Kosovo has no prospect for EU membership") (25 April 2018)

Photo: European Fund for the Balkans

Kristof Bender. Photo: European Fund for the Balkans