On 2 of July, the EAD launched its newest project focusing on sharing the Polish and Visegrad European integration experience with the Western Balkan countries. Participants of the VSPS Western Balkans Initiative took part in 3 days of meetings and discussions on civil society, security, good governance and combatting corruption, regional cooperation, and priorities of foreign policy. They also spent 2 days attending panels and meetings at the Poznań Western Balkans Summit devoted to strategic priorities, engaging business, building civil society, anti-corruption, building a better environment for better life quality, countering disinformation and threats to democracy.
In October 2019, the participants met again in a regional setting during the Belgrade Security Forum. The Belgrade Security Forum presents the most relevant event where key actors meet and discuss foreign affairs and security policy in Balkans and Europe. Initiated by civil society organizations, it considers different perspectives and opinions and contributes to the resolution of most pressing issues. During the side event, participants had the opportunity to discuss about the integration of the Western Balkans with the European Union, Poland’s involvement in the process of integration of the Western Balkans and the implementation of the Berlin Process. Activists and journalists from the Western Balkans participated in the session as speakers.
The program concluded in November with a series of publications on Western Balkans EU integration process.The series of publications in social media, blogs and fan pages will be a summary of the entire project, which concerned sessions in Warsaw, Poznań and Belgrade. The publications were published in English as well as in the native languages of the participants.
Many thanks to our partners: Akademija za politički razvoj, Gradjanska alijansa, Center for Research and Policy Making, Instituti i Prishtinës për Studime Politike – PIPS, Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence (BFPE), think-tank Evropské hodnoty and Hungarian Europe Society. The project is supported by the Council of Europe and co-financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs within the “Public Diplomacy 2019”.
