Growing Together or Moving Apart?

Thomas MÜLLER-FÄRBER, International and Security Affairs, Protestant Academy Loccum

Tobias FLESSENKEMPER, Board Member of the Southeast Europe Association (Südosteuropa-Gesellschaft – SOG), Düsseldorf/Belgrade

Between “enlargement fatigue” and “accession refusal”, the Western Balkans cannot be detached from the European Union as a region, yet today the perspectives of “togetherness” seem more elusive than 2003 when the EU promised their full integration. This key-note lecture will introduce the range of issues, opportunities, and challenges of a difficult relationship and provide an overview of current and historic developments that shape the Western Balkans predicament. How will this region, surrounded by EU Member States, find its place in the political, cultural, social, economic and institutional construction of Europe?

Florian BIEBER, Professor of Southeast European History and Politics and Director of the Centre for Southeast European Studies at the University of Graz, & & Board Member of the Southeast Europe Association (Südosteuropa-Gesellschaft – SOG), Vienna

This open round-tabel discussion will allow for a panoramic overview on the ideas, initiatives, and concerns regarding the immediate future of the region and Europe as a whole. The purpose is to identify possible pathways for new, alternative or forgotten approaches to overcome the current political and diplomatic gridlocks, to reduce elements of state capture, from which the region is suffering, and to develop positive visions for European “togetherness” against the backdrop of a continental surge of revanchism, glorification of war criminals and abusive use of history. In that sense, this discussion shall nurture the work of the second day of the conference and allows to test ways out of ossified structures of thinking about Europe and the Balkans.

OPENING IMPULSES BY:

Clive RUMBOLD, Senior Expert, Western Balkans Division, European External Action Service, Brussels

Simonida KACARSKA, Director, European Policy Institute, Skopje

Josip JURATOVIC, Member of the German Parliament (SPD), Spokesperson of the Subcommittee on Crisis Prevention and Conflict Resolution and Member of the Foreign Affairs Committe, Vice-President of the Southeast Europe Association (Südosteuropa-Gesellschaft –SOG), Berlin/Heilbronn

Jasmin MUJANOVIC, Assistant Professor of Political Science and Policy Studies at Elon University and author of the book “Hunger and Fury: The Crisis of Democracy in the Balkans”, Elon

Moderator: Christian HAGEMANN, Deputy Director, Southeast Europe Association (Südosteuropa-Gesellschaft – SOG), Munich