POZNAŃ – Strengthening civil society, the Connectivity Agenda, the EU’s enlargement policy and the development of the Berlin Process, will be some of the topics of the Western Balkans Summit in Poznań, which consists of Think Tank Forum, Civil Society Forum, Business Forum, Ministerial meetings and Leaders’ Summit.
Think Thank Forum will be held on July 3, and one essential goal of the Forum is to discuss the achievements and challenges facing the new European Commission linked to the EU’s enlargement policy and the development of the Berlin Process.
Participants of the Forum will discuss the Connectivity Agenda since one of the aims of the Berlin Process is to enhance connectivity and regional cooperation throughout the
Western Balkans.
The following panel of the Think Thank Forum will explore the social and economic development of the Western Balkan region, as well as the key social, economic, and employment challenges these countries are facing.
“The Western Balkans Summit is taking place at a time when the composition of the European institution for the next five years is being decided, and this decision will shape the new strategic priorities of EU policy towards the Balkans, which will be the topic of the final panel of the day,” reads the Agenda of the Think Thank Forum.
Some of the speakers of the Think Thank Forum will be Jelica Minić, President of the Forum for International Relations, Ardian Hackaj, Research Director of the Cooperation and Development Institute, Gersi Gashi from the Institute Democracy for Development, Jovana Marović from Politikon Network, Vladimir Međak, Vice-President of the European Movement in Serbia and Maciej Popowski, Deputy Director-General for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations.
The Civil Society Forum will take place on the following day, Thursday, July 4.
Strengthening civil society represents one of four priorities of the Polish Presidency in the Berlin Process, alongside security, connectivity and economy, and it is extraordinarily focused on “interactions”. Therefore, within the Western Balkans Summit Poznań 2019, numerous experts and activists will gather to discuss, from a wider perspective, the future and the current situation of the region.
The Forum will have several parallel sessions – Stepping up the regional transformation efforts to advance the EU integration path, Local initiatives solving local problems, Better environment for better living, Disinformation and Hybrid Threats for Democracy, Anti-corruption as the first condition for economic growth and Overcoming the legacy of the past.
Some of the speakers will be Majlinda Bregu, Secretary General of Regional Cooperation Council, Genoveva Ruiz Calavera, Director for the Western Balkans at the Directorate-General for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations of the European Commission, Ekaterina Zakharieva, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, Đuro Blanuša, Secretary General of RYCO, Johannes Hahn, EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Nikola Dimitrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia and Marija Pejčinović Burić, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Croatia.
The motto of the Business Forum that will be held on the same day is “Growing together” and the main goal of the Forum is to strengthen the relations between participants, especially in a business context. The main topics of the Forum will be renewable energy, development of digital infrastructure, food and agrotech.
Also, on July 4 Ministers of Foreign Affairs will have bilateral and multilateral meetings.
The Summit of the leaders of the Western Balkans and members of the Berlin Process will be held on the final day of the Summit in Poznań, on Friday, July 5.
The leaders will discuss the most important issues concerning Western Balkans.