BFPE’s Marko Savkovic presented at Center for EU Enlargement Studies conference
(taken from CENS Facebook page, photos © 2015 www.vegeldaniel.com)
While Croatia joined the EU in 2013, progress toward the accession of the other non-EU states in the Western Balkans has varied from country to country. The accession negotiations with Montenegro and Serbia are ongoing. The two countries are the only non-EU Western Balkan countries which have effectively made progress on their journey towards EU membership. Nevertheless, the progress of Montenegro and Serbia to a point where they are now tangible candidates for membership shows that the grip of anti-enlargement attitudes among EU Member States is perhaps waning. The benefits for the EU to enlarge to the Western Balkans, particularly in solidifying stability in the region and extending a zone of peace and prosperity to South East Europe, arguably outweigh the purported costs of accession.
The one-day international conference explored the following: political challenges (democracy, rule of law and corruption, visa-free travel); economic challenges (competitiveness of Serbia and Montenegro and the rest of the region, challenges and risks of joining the single market); social challenges (unemployment, migration, civil society).
For the list of speakers and the agenda, visit URL.
The event was organized in cooperation with the Institute of World Economics, Center for Economic and Regional Studies of the Hungarian Academy of Science.
