The Berlin Process, an initiative launched in 2014 to support regional cooperation and the European integration of the Western Balkans, will this year be hosted by the United Kingdom. Bringing together leaders from the Western Balkans, EU member states, and key international partners, the 2025 summit aims to build on more than a decade of dialogue, connectivity, and reform efforts.
About the priorities of the Berlin Process in 2025, as well as Civil Society and Think Tank Forum, and role of the civil society in Berlin Process, we spoke with Stormy-Annika Mildner, Executive Director of the Aspen Institute, and Christian Hagemann, Executive Director of Southeast Europe Association (SOG). The Aspen Institute and SOE were the organizers of the Civil Society and Think Tank Forum 2024, supported by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
European Western Balkans: This year the Berlin Process enters its eleventh years of existence. What are your expectations for the Berlin Process in 2025?
Stormy-Annika Mildner: In 2024, the tenth anniversary of the Berlin Process was celebrated. On this occasion, Aspen Institute and Southeast Europe Association commissioned a stock-taking study on the Berlin Processes’ achievements. The study underlines that there is a plethora of initiatives, institutions, working groups, and projects that have emerged over the past decade, supporting the development of an ever-growing web of regional cooperation.
We are sure that the Berlin Process 2025 will build on this great legacy, while introducing also some fresh thinking to some of the obstacles encountered. For example, many commitments of the past have not yet been followed up on. It would thus be an important signal to focus this year not only on new deliverables, but to treat the question of implementation of the existing commitments with equal importance. In general, it is a good signal that the UK takes again responsibility of this process as it underlines that Europe cares for the Western Balkans, also beyond the EU.
EWB: The new government in Germany was formed at the beginning of May. Will the Berlin Process remain a top priority for the new German leadership in its approach to the region?
Christian Hagemann: We expect that the Berlin Process will remain high on the agenda of the German leadership. After all, both coalition parties have emphasized its importance in the past and much of the time of its existence the same party combination that is in charge now has supported it in government on the German side.
Against the backdrop of the current geopolitical developments, stability and progress in the Western Balkans remain a high priority and besides the enlargement process, the Berlin Process is one of the most important instruments of working towards these goals together with the region.
EWB: One of the recent publications published within the Civil Society Forum (CSF) states that the Berlin Process in 2025 should consider establishing a structured mechanism to track the progress of the CRM and the Growth Plan. Why is it important to establish such mechanisms, and how do you see the role of civil society in monitoring this progress?
SAM: Tracking and monitoring progress is of essential importance for policy effectiveness. The region’s civil society has shown time and again, both during the CSF and beyond, that it can act as a partner for governments and international institutions to track developments on the ground.
For civil society, it is often easier to speak truth to power as they are not limited by a certain mandate. It would thus be desirable if governmental and non-governmental actors could pull together in this way to make the process more transparent and thereby also detect more easily its bottlenecks.
EWB: Civil society has continued to offer recommendations to European stakeholders and national governments from the region on how to improve the Berlin Process. How do you assess the level of influence of CSOs on policy-makers within the Berlin Process?
CH: Overall, the picture is mixed. Our final publication on the process 2024 looks at the results of the summit in 2024 and compares them both to the implementation track record as well as civil society’s recommendations. Our authors find that most of the CSO’s recommendations have not yet been followed-up upon since last year.
Still, one should be careful to judge the success of this endeavor entirely based on these snapshots. On the one hand, we have heard from several officials in the past years that they were very thankful for the inspiring critical and creative inputs offered by civil society also for their work.
On the other hand, the process is of course still ongoing. We have held, for example, many advocacy meetings between CSOs and decision-makers in the past year, and the interest was always huge, also at the higher echelons of power. We are thus optimistic that civil society is a very relevant force in this process, even if its influence is often indirect and becomes effective only after some time.
EWB: What would you highlight as the main priorities for the Civil Society Forum in 2025?
SAM: Of course, all issues have to remain important. This sounds maybe a bit general, but it is a crucial trait of the Civil Society Forum that it keeps more topics in focus than the official process usually does. At the same time, none of the issues that were important in the past years can be seen as really resolved.
But to be a bit more specific: We would expect fundamental issue like reconciliation, rule of law, and corruption to play again a big role at the CSF, as these are at the heart of many organizations’ work. Furthermore, when it comes to reconciliation, also the UK has a very relevant track record and story to tell in this regard. We are thus curious to see what the emphasis will be in this year.