Conference in Bratislava: EU Enlargement in the Balkans in 2011 - Make Not Break
21 October 2010
Gerald Knaus (second from right). Photo: Slovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs
This one day expert international conference on the margins of the meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Visegrad and Western Balkans countries was to assess the status of the EU integration, as well as to discuss the perspectives of revitalizing the process of EU enlargement and to exchange information about official development aid projects in the Western Balkan countries.
The event was co-organised by ESI. Gerald Knaus was a speaker at the panel "Is EU enlargement in the Western Balkans stuck?" and Kristof Bender chaired a panel on "How to move the enlargement agenda during 2011?"
ESI discussion paper: The Noah-Joker Effect. How to turn the Balkans into an EU foreign policy success (21 October 2010)
Kristof Bender (second from left). Photo: Slovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Speakers:
- Milan Ježovica State Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic
- Amb. (Ret.) Rastislav Káčer President of the Slovak Atlantic Commission
- Axel Wallden Head of the Unit Enlargement Strategy, Directorate General for Enlargement, European Commission
- Gerhard Almer Director, European Union External Affairs Division, Federal Foreign Office of Germany
- Gerald Knaus Chairman, European Stability Initiative
- Kristof Bender Deputy Chairman, European Stability Initiative
- Zsolt Pataki Department for CSFP, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Hungary
- Anna Sochańska Deputy Head of the European Policy Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland
- Ivica Bocevski Former Deputy Prime Minister of Macedonia
- Milan Nič Deputy Director, Office of the State Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic
- Roman Holý Coordinator of Development Aid Program for Western Balkans, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic
- Brigitta Jaksa Policy Officer, DemNet
- Hedvig Morvai-Horvat Executive Director, European Fund for the Balkans
The event was also widely covered in the media:
- Vijesti, "Potreban vam je premijer kojeg niko ne zna" ("You need a Prime Minister that no one knows") (28 October 2010)
- Euractiv.sk, "Je rozširovanie EÚ v slepej uličke?" ("Is EU enlargement at an impasse?") (25 October 2010)
- Vijesti, "EU bez Balkana staje na pola puta" ("Without the Balkans the EU stops halfway") (24 October 2010)
- Bumm.sk, "A balkáni integrációról konferenciáznak a V4-ek" ("Conference on the integration of the Balkans") (23 October 2010)
- TV Markiza (news show), "Televízne noviny" (23 October 2010)
- Webnoviny.sk, "Chorvátsko už stojí pred dverami EÚ" ("Croatia already at the EU's doorstep") (22 October 2010)
- Pobjeda Online, "Princip regate je prošlost" ("The regata-principle is history") (22 October 2010)
- Conference anouncement
- Conference program
- Conference Recommendations for the Meeting of Visegrad and Balkan Ministers of Foreign Affairs on October 22 in Bratislava (prepared by ESI)
- This event is also on Facebook