Brussels – ESI event: Lost in limbo? EU enlargement and the southern Balkans - Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia

22 May 2013

The Open Society European Policy Institute and the European Stability Initiative
are pleased to invite you to a joint event:

LOST IN LIMBO?

 EU enlargement and the southern Balkans - Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia

with

Gerald Knaus, European Stability Initiative, Chairman
Besa Shahini, European Stability Initiative, Senior Analyst

Date/Venue

Wednesday, 22 May 2013, 12.30-14.00
OSEPI, 9-13 Rue d'Idalie, 1050 Brussels

On the eve of Albanian parliamentary elections in June 2013, following a historic deal between Serbia and Kosovo, and ten years since the EU summit in Thessaloniki in 2003 the European future of the Southern Balkans remains deeply uncertain.

Events and decisions in the coming months might either provide a clear perspective to one of the poorest regions of Europe or plunge it into further uncertainty. What would it take for this region to overcome its European isolation? 

  
Albanian elections – The Macedonian name issue – "The Art of Travelling" in Kosovo

The Open Society European Policy Institute will host a closed-door lunch roundtable with the European Stability Initiative and European officials working on the Balkans. Senior ESI analyst Besa Shahini and ESI president and chairman Gerald Knaus will make short presentations on the situation in Albania ahead of June elections, and a wider assessment of the EU prospects of the southern Balkans.

Shahini will present ESI's analysis of the situation in Albania including specific recommendations on how the European Union could help the country move beyond the political stalemate that has characterized national politics. Her recent presentation to a Congressional hearing in Washington, and ESI's briefing paper Red Lines for Albania. The EU and the June Parliamentary Elections are available from ESI's website. Knaus will look at implications of recent developments on the European future of Kosovo and Macedonia and outline an ESI proposal, which is still being discussed, on how to overcome the Macedonia name dispute.  

The discussion will be chaired by OSEPI's Head of EU Policy Development Neil Campbell.

Please confirm your attendance with Zineb Ben Achouba
zineb.ben-achouba@opensocietyfoundations.org

 

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