BERLIN – More decision-makers and citizens from the European countries should be invited to the next conferences organised in the framework of the Berlin Process, the “voices from the audience” suggested at today’s closing ceremony of the Civil Society and Think Tank Forum 2024. The Forum, which took place on 9–11 October in Berlin, was hosted by the Southeast Europe Association and the Aspen Institute Germany, with the support of the German Federal Foreign Office.
Wrapping up the conference, Stormy-Annika Mildner, Executive Director of the Aspen Institute Germany, and Christian Hagemann, Executive Director of the Southeast Europe Association, gave the floor to the audience to make their suggestions about the future Forums.
It was recommended that, apart from the numerous representatives of the CSOs from the Western Balkans, the relevant individuals from the European countries should be invited to such conferences, so as to launch an even broader dialogue on the European future of the “Western Balkans Six”.
In addition, it was suggested that “some celebrities” should be engaged in future Forums in order to reach a wider audience, as well as “representatives from the private sector”, because “the EU enlargement is a joint challenge for the civil society and the private sector”.
Finally, it was heard that more decision-makers should be invited to the CSO conferences, “so that more problems presented by the civil society can be solved”.