The Foundation BFPE for Responsible Society, the Atlantic Council and VoisinageS are organizing roundtable talks from 8 to 10 May 2022 in the French Senate, Paris, as part of the Balkan Dialogues initiative to discuss on the topic Re-thinking the Western Balkans EU Integration in the New Geopolitical Context.
The goal of the events in Paris is to define and propose priorities for European integration of the region, as well as to examine the role of external actors. Therefore, it is important to examine the existing regional trends that are not only short-term, but define the relations between regional actors, as well as the relations between the region and actors such as the EU, China, Russia, USA and other actors present in the region. The discussion will raise the issue of energy security and dependence of the region, the growing influence of authoritarian foreign and domestic actors, as well as how the Ukrainian crisis and Russian aggression will affect both regional development and the European perspective of the region.
The event will bring together representatives of state institutions and research centers from the Western Balkans, representatives of French, EU and American institutions, experts from international think tanks and academies in order to lay the groundwork for a dynamic and constructive discussion on these topics.
This event is organized with support of Open Society Foundation, French Senate and The Balkan Trust for Democracy.
Consisting of decision-makers and experts from six Western Balkan countries (WB6), including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, along with the European Union, the United States, Russia and China – the dialogues are designed to help increase and deepening understanding, while building trust between representatives of the various geopolitical interests present in the region today.
