EU-Western Balkans Summit – transforming global uncertainty into regional opportunity

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EU-Western Balkans Summit – transforming global uncertainty into regional opportunity

What happened?

EU accession hopes spark optimism in the Western Balkans

Imagine a peaceful future in the Western Balkans, where motorways link the countries and all you see as you pass from one country to another is a sign by the road saying ‘Welcome to Montenegro’ or ‘Welcome to Serbia’.

That tantalising image, shared by Montenegrin Prime Minister Dritan Abazović at Wednesday’s EU-Western Balkans Summit hosted by Friends of Europe, reflected the mood of a debate about the future of the region involving two additional leaders, Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama and President of North Macedonia Stevo Pendarovski.

Taking place just 24 hours after the first-ever EU-Western Balkans Summit to be held in the region, in Tirana, the debate reflected a new optimism among the countries’ leaders.

“I am not normally an optimist, but at this moment, it is right to be optimistic. There are good things happening,” said Rama.

Albania and North Macedonia have, after a long wait, recently been granted EU candidate status, while Montenegro is already a candidate. In an example of regional solidarity and trust, Western Balkan countries agreed to recognise each other’s ID cards, university diplomas and professional qualifications earlier in November.

At the gathering in Tirana, the EU has opened the door to students from the Western Balkans to participate in the EU’s Erasmus student exchange programme, and it agreed to cut mobile phone roaming charges between the EU and the Western Balkans.

But all three leaders were acutely aware that the broader geopolitical situation, with war in Ukraine and an aggressive Russia trying to sow division in the EU’s neighbourhood, is the biggest factor pushing the EU to dust down an enlargement process that has been dormant since the arrival of Croatia in the EU in 2013.

The war in Ukraine has changed things in the Western Balkans. Abazović said Montenegro will support Ukraine “to the end”, but the EU should recognise this by opening the door to the countries of the Western Balkans, not just talk.

“If we don’t use this opportunity we will stay like a black hole and that will also be problematic for the EU,” he said.

Pendarovski also pointed to Europe’s self-interest in engaging with its neighbours in the region.

“After Ukraine, I hope it won’t be back to business as usual. I don’t want to see EU attention on the Balkans only when there’s a migration crisis or a war,” he said.

Support for the EU is strong throughout all three Western Balkan countries represented at the scene-setting session of the Friends of Europe event. “Albania is the most pro-EU country on the continent,” said Rama, “because we came from hell, totally isolated.”

However, support for EU accession in North Macedonia has dropped sharply in the past 18 months. It has fallen from over 80% to just over 60%, Pendarovski said.

Montenegro remains steadfastly pro-European but Montenegrins are “very practical people”, Abazović said. If the EU drags its feet with the enlargement process, it could push the country into the arms of Russia.

“Decision-making from the EU’s side must be more effective. Otherwise, others will come, jump into the region because they will be more concrete. In Montenegro, the will of the people is realistic and honest in that a huge majority of the population see Montenegro’s future with the EU,” Abazović said.

Nevertheless, he added that the EU needs to understand that it must remain attractive – especially after Brexit and the war in Ukraine. “If the EU doesn’t understand this, everyone will lose – not just Western Balkan countries,” he said.

As in recent years, Friends of Europe’s annual EU-Western Balkans Summit sought to place young people at the heart of the debate – an approach supported by all three heads of state and government. The risk of increased brain drain from the region “is the biggest danger for the national security of each state and society,” Pendarovski said.

Rama and Abazović echoed these concerns. Both called for more young people to participate in politics. At age 36, Abazović is the youngest leader in the region.

In a pre-summit roundtable discussion featuring a group of youth delegates from the Western Balkans, many young voices expressed their concerns about the future of their region. Unlike the leaders, who took the stage shortly afterwards, the young attendees were more circumspect about their region’s future.

One youth delegate pointed to old-fashioned teaching methods in the region as a reason why students are looking to study abroad. “Often, there is too much theory and not enough practice. Teaching in the Balkans should be adapted to retain young talent,” she said.

The problem of youth unemployment is also driving young people away. “The challenge is not just in education. Western Balkan countries must also create opportunities for young people in the region,” said Michela Matuella, Acting Director for the Western Balkans at the European Commission Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR). “Job fairs and internships are rare in the Balkans. That needs to change,” she said.

But it goes beyond economics too. Young people that study abroad are deterred from returning home because of broader problems like the lack of rule of law, respect for human rights, and in particular, the rights of non-binary gender types and minorities, such as the Roma community. “Jobs – yes, of course. But also important is how we are respected when we return to our countries. The most important thing is human rights,” said one of the delegates.

The day-long Friends of Europe event also heard from Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, former president of Latvia, who shared the experience of her country’s EU accession process that she helped kick-start at the end of the 1990s.

In a session dedicated to exploring alternative industries in the Western Balkans, Ivana Živković, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General, Assistant Administrator and Director of the Regional Bureau for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States at the UN Development Programme (UNDP), said creative industries can help stem brain drain. “Capturing this potential can spur growth,” she noted.

Senior Fellow for Peace, Security and Defence Paul Taylor presented Friends of Europe’s latest publication in its European Defence Cooperation series, entitled ‘Seize the geopolitical moment: the Western Balkans and European security’. “If Europe is to prevent the Western Balkan region backsliding into ethnic nationalism, corruption and potential armed conflict,” Taylor found, “it has to reinvigorate the European integration process in a way that creates tangible benefits to citizens, businesses and authorities across the region.”

EU-Western Balkans Summit - Transforming global uncertainty into regional opportunity.

Schedule

Schedule

Welcome and registration
PRE-SUMMIT YOUTH HYBRID ROUNDTABLE – Young Balkan Voices
Expand PRE-SUMMIT YOUTH HYBRID ROUNDTABLE – Young Balkan Voices

During last year’s Summit, young representatives from the region expressed grievances regarding stagnant social, political and economic developments, missing representation on a governmental level and solutions. One year later, participants will reflect on the events that have marked the Western Balkans and the EU in 2022, shedding light on positive progress, as well as on areas where solutions are still missing.

Changes compared to last year, especially the war in Ukraine—narrowly connected to the fear of territorial security, unclear EU support and increasing economic challenges—and the easing of the pandemic have impacted the younger generation’s future. How can emerging and flourishing trends, such as the increasing speed of digital transformation, concrete plans of youth activist groups for political engagement at the local level, and the more open debate about increasing equality and inclusion in the labour market, serve as starting points for finding solutions to improve the lives of young people in the Western Balkans?

The conversation will focus on the youth delegates’ priorities for the future and suggested solutions. Taking place just prior to our high-level Summit sessions, the conclusions and recommendations coming out of this roundtable will be put forward to Western Balkan and EU policymakers participating in the subsequent debates, challenging their perceptions of the status quo and questioning whether their policy initiatives align with youth priorities.

  • How do young people in the Western Balkans view their future opportunities in fields such as employment and education?
  • How has the war in Ukraine impacted the view of young people of the possibility of EU membership and having a future in their own country?
  • How can digitalisation and young people’s growing awareness of underlying challenges help to reduce structural problems at the regional level?

This session is supported by

 

With

Michela Matuella

Acting Director for the Western Balkans at the European Commission Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR)

Moderator

Una Hajdari

Journalist

Lunch
SCENE SETTING – In Conversation With Stevo Pendarovski, Dritan Abazović and Edi Rama
Expand SCENE SETTING – In Conversation With Stevo Pendarovski, Dritan Abazović and Edi Rama

2022 has proved to be a true turning point for EU enlargement policy, not least due to Ukraine’s and Moldova’s newly-acquired candidate status and to the reemergence of a continent-wide thrust towards a stronger and more sustainable model of European integration. The list of EU hopeful countries has swiftly expanded, and the notion of enlargement itself seems to be experiencing a paradigm shift. In July, EU leaders gave green light to starting accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania after a years-long wait. This breakthrough has not come at zero cost, as bilateral relations within the region are bound to fluctuate and readjust in the upcoming months and years. For its part, Montenegro still remains the undeniable regional front-runner, but recent episodes of political instability could put the country’s achievements at risk.

In conversation with Stevo Pendarovski, Macedonian President; Edi Rama, Albanian Prime Minister; and Dritan Abazović, Montenegrin Prime Minister, this scene-setting session will delve further into what is at stake for the Western Balkans after 2022, and will help unravel what is in store for some of the most resilient EU candidate countries. The discussion comes at a distinct moment in time, with Skopje and Tirana entering a brand-new phase in their relations with the EU, and with Podgorica striving to remain a regional leader—but also with challenging domestic landscapes looming on the horizon.

  • How does the new stage in the accession processes of North Macedonia and Albania help reframe both countries’ narrative vis-à-vis their citizens? What can Montenegro’s experience as an enlargement front-runner teach them?
  • How can enlargement-skeptical EU Member States help render the accession process more intuitive and become part of the solution?
  • What is the future for EU-Western Balkans relations in the light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine? How will Ukraine’s and Moldova’s EU candidate status impact these relations?

with

Stevo Pendarovski

Macedonian President

Dritan Abazović

Montenegrin Prime Minister

Edi Rama

Albanian Prime Minister

Moderator

Dharmendra Kanani

Chief Operating Officer and Chief Spokesperson of Friends of Europe

SESSION I – European Defence Study launch: the Western Balkans and European security
Expand SESSION I – European Defence Study launch: the Western Balkans and European security

The return of a major inter-state war to Europe with the Russian invasion of Ukraine has exacerbated unresolved problems in the Western Balkans and triggered great-power rivalry in the vacuum opened by the long-stalled EU enlargement process. The EU’s decision to grant candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova has evidenced a timid revival of the process, but it runs the risk of pushing the Western Balkan countries further down the ladder of care and attention in Brussels. While NATO has admitted Albania, Montenegro and North Macedonia, as well as Slovenia and Croatia, helping anchor much of the region into Euro-Atlantic structures, it has done little for its prosperity or to fight autocracy and corruption. Amid this, examples of local economic empowerment, functioning democracy and civil society resilience offer patches of hope for a better future in all the Western Balkan countries, as do EU-funded efforts for regional cooperation.

In this study, Friends of Europe Senior Fellow Paul Taylor will explore what the EU and the Euro-Atlantic community need to do to revive reforms and economic and political integration of the Western Balkans, and prevent a backward slide into ethnic nationalism, corrupt governance and potential armed conflict. Based on interviews with over 20 political, business and civil society leaders from the Western Balkans as well as EU and NATO officials and regional experts, the study will make recommendations for a reinvigoration of the European integration process with tangible benefits for citizens, businesses and authorities across the region. It will also review the division of labour between the EU, NATO and other countries and institutions to buttress security and promote reform and good governance.

The launch session will serve as a platform for key stakeholders and senior experts to debate and react to the report’s conclusions and recommendations, placing the spotlight on the key challenges highlighted in the study.

  • What are the key security challenges in the region and what role can the EU and NATO play in addressing these?
  • What obstacles are hindering the Western Balkans’ path into the EU? Against this backdrop, how can the EU maintain and strengthen its sphere of influence in the region?
  • What are the political, economic and social prospects of other external State actors in the region, and how can this impact their relationship with the EU and the US?

This publication is supported by the United States European Command (EUCOM).

Speakers

Miroslav Lajčák

EU Special Representative for the Serbia-Kosovo Dialogue, former Slovakian deputy prime minister and former president of the United Nations General Assembly, and Trustee of Friends of Europe

Paul Taylor

Senior Fellow for Peace, Security and Defence at Friends of Europe

Aleksandra Tomanić

Executive Director of the European Fund for the Balkans (EFB)

Moderator

Dharmendra Kanani

Chief Operating Officer and Chief Spokesperson of Friends of Europe

Coffee break
SESSION II – Empowering alternative industries in the Western Balkans
Expand SESSION II – Empowering alternative industries in the Western Balkans

Fresh and innovative forms of economic activity are flourishing all across the Western Balkans: spanning from the technology sector, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) and online retail ventures, all the way to the arts, including cinema, dance, painting and music. A blooming start-up ecosystem is building up throughout the region, while initiatives promoting sustainable tourism and green energy solutions are steadily gaining traction. The Western Balkans are consolidating themselves as an up-and-coming multi-sector industrial hub, evidencing the myriad avenues for economic growth—while revealing the region’s untapped potential.

Financial support from international donors contributes to a large extent to the sustainability of projects advocating for alternative thinking and creative solutions. Against this backdrop, as the EU Economic and Investment Plan funds and other international capital start flowing in to strengthen the Western Balkans’ recovery from the crisis, public institutions should be ready to back these ventures for the benefit of economic and social development. Combining external investments and government support for entrepreneurs, artists and emerging industry leaders is an opportunity not to be missed and can be a driver for the region’s economic outlook.

This session will explore the current and future opportunities for promoting and enhancing innovative business models in the Western Balkans. Bringing together national and local authorities, international organisations, and emerging leaders from across the region, we will engage in a creative discussion on how to empower multi-stakeholder cooperation around alternative industries.

  • How can equitable and sustainable development be enabled through less traditional or small-scale forms of economic activity, such as the arts, or the green and digital start-up sectors?
  • What are the obstacles that entrepreneurs and artists face when trying to launch their ventures, and how can these be mitigated?
  • What policies are necessary to foster entrepreneurship in the Western Balkans? And how can the region’s cooperation with international organisations and donors improve in this regard?

Speakers

Armin Čerkez

Founder & CEO of Youth Power and 2020-2021 European Young Leader (EYL40)

Isabelle Durant

Former deputy secretary general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), former deputy prime minister of Belgium and Trustee of Friends of Europe

Albana Tole

Albanian Deputy Minister of Education, Youth and Sports

Ivana Živković

UN Assistant Secretary General, Assistant Administrator and Director of the Regional Bureau for Europe and Commonwealth of Independent States at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

Moderator

Una Hajdari

Journalist

Coffee break
SESSION III – Before and after the EU: building better democracies and economic prosperity
Expand SESSION III – Before and after the EU: building better democracies and economic prosperity

In light of the war in Ukraine, voices have grown louder both in the EU and in the Western Balkans to accelerate the accession process of the region. Following years of EU support for regional cooperation and good neighbourly relations, the Western Balkan countries are increasingly investing in connecting their economies, learning from one another’s rule of law reforms, and approaching the EU from a common front. In this regard, establishing effective democratic renewal, anti-corruption policies and mechanisms of support for civil society have emerged as both necessary and challenging. Unresolved regional disputes, lack of independence of the judiciary, and weak efforts to counteract emigration and brain drain still stand in the way of sustainable improvement.

During the 2004 enlargement wave, the EU’s largest expansion to date, common interests enabled the new Member States to overcome certain phases when cooperation stagnated. While some countries were able to improve and keep up with EU standards, several setbacks regarding judicial independence, fair elections, and principles of good governance have been witnessed in other cases—evidencing that there is no one-size-fits-all process of reform and policy alignment. Vulnerability to external and internal influences requires work before, during and after accession; as such, now, different efforts have resulted in different democracies as a fundamental pillar. How did these countries make it, and what can we learn from them?

By bringing together the learning capacity of the Western Balkans and the knowledge of Member States that entered the EU in 2004, this session will aim to craft an idea of the ‘future’ Western Balkans through best practices and lessons learnt. We will discuss the region’s current and prospective challenges around questions of democratic consolidation, good governance, and economic development.

  • Which reforms were needed in the 2004 enlargement countries to speed up EU accession, and how can these reforms be applied to the Western Balkans?
  • How were the topics of good governance, democracy and anti-corruption effectively approached in these countries’ accession processes, and how can challenges and obstacles—such as missing representation, lack of accountability or insufficient transparency—be overcome?
  • Which reforms are the Western Balkans implementing today to align with EU standards, and how can the EU’s support for the countries be improved at every step of the accession process to prevent setbacks?

This session is curated by

 

Speakers

Manuel Sarrazin

Special Representative for the Countries of the Western Balkans of the German Federal Foreign Office

Jana Soukupová

Founder of Youth, Speak Up! and EDYN Ambassador in the Czech Republic

Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga

Former president of Latvia

moderator

Sotiraq Hroni

Executive Director of the Institute for Democracy and Mediation (IDM)

End of the Summit
Speakers

Speakers

Stevo Pendarovski
Stevo Pendarovski

Macedonian President

Show more information on Stevo Pendarovski

Stevo Pendarovski has led a distinguished career as a politician and academic. He served as National Security and Chief Foreign Policy Advisor for two presidents and headed North Macedonia’s State Election Commission. He also worked as an Assistant Professor in International Security, Foreign Policy and Globalisation at the University American College in Skopje. He was a key figure in coordinating North Macedonia’s accession to NATO and is a strong proponent of Balkan integration into the EU as a way of attracting more foreign investment, creating jobs, and maintaining stability and prosperity in the Balkans.

Dritan Abazović
Dritan Abazović

Montenegrin Prime Minister

Show more information on Dritan Abazović

Prior to his election, Dritan Abazović served as member of the Parliament of Montenegro and co-founded the Civic Movement United Reform Action in 2015, a green, socially liberal and pro-European party as well as the Positive Montenegro party. Abazović also taught Sociology of Culture, Communication and History of Religion to high school students. He is the author of the book “Cosmopolitan Culture and Global Justice”, as well as of a large number of scientific papers in regional and international journals.

Edi Rama
Edi Rama

Albanian Prime Minister

Show more information on Edi Rama

With a remarkably rich and diverse career path, Edi Rama’s involvement in the public and political life of Albania starts with his active participation in the movement for democracy that led to the dismantling of the communist regime in Albania. As Prime Minister, Rama continuously plays an important part in the political life of Albania, notably through the implementation of numerous reforms, including the restructuring of the country’s judiciary and law enforcement. Prior to his appointment as Prime Minister, he was Mayor of Tirana for 11 years, where he contributed to the modernisation of the city.

Armin Cerkez
Armin Čerkez

Founder & CEO of Youth Power and 2020-2021 European Young Leader (EYL40)

Show more information on Armin Čerkez

Armin founded Youth Power, an influential Bosnian NGO which pushes for non-violence, human rights and tolerance in the country. The inspirational work he did on Program Y led to the inclusion of gender-based violence prevention in school curricula. Coming from a region that has historically suffered from religious violence, Armin has championed the need for more inter-faith dialogue. He has also brought his message directly to citizens, providing lessons to prevent alcohol abuse, sexually transmitted diseases and violence in schools.

Isabelle Durant
Isabelle Durant

Former deputy secretary general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), former deputy prime minister of Belgium and Trustee of Friends of Europe

Show more information on Isabelle Durant

With a distinguished career in Belgian and European politics, Isabelle Durant has held the offices of Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Transport and Energy, and Senator in the Belgian Government. She also served as Vice-President of the European Parliament, President of the European Union Council of Ministers of Transport and as Deputy-Secretary General and Acting Secretary General of UNCTAD. With a wealth of experience collaborating with civil society and the private sector, her time as European Parliament Vice-President included responsibility for relations with civil society. Durant has held posts as a senior consultant on the empowerment of women in local government for the UNDP and as a member of Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region in Belgium.

etilda-gjonaj
Etilda Gjonaj

Member of the Albanian Parliament and former Albanian minister of justice

Show more information on Etilda Gjonaj

An expert in justice system reform, Etilda Gjonaj is former Albanian minister of justice and has also served as the country’s deputy minister of justice and commissioner on public administration issues at the office of the ombudsperson. Gjonaj is a civil society activist, supporting human rights for over a decade at the Albanian Helsinki Committee. As a lawyer, she has handled numerous human rights violations cases, including legal processes affecting children. Gjonaj lectures at the Department of Criminal Law at the University of Tirana, and has authored several publications, research studies and scientific articles in local and international legal journals in the field of justice.

Miroslav Lajčák
Miroslav Lajčák

EU Special Representative for the Serbia-Kosovo Dialogue, former Slovakian deputy prime minister and former president of the United Nations General Assembly, and Trustee of Friends of Europe

Show more information on Miroslav Lajčák

Miroslav Lajčák has more than 30 years of experience in foreign policy, having dedicated his professional life to diplomacy, representing both the Slovak Republic and the international community. He has served as the Slovak foreign and European affairs minister four times, as well as the ambassador to Japan and several southeastern European countries. Lajčák was also the executive assistant to the United Nations Secretary General’s Special Envoy for the Balkans and has held several other supporting positions in institutions such as the EEAS, the UNGA and the OSCE.

Michela Matuella
Michela Matuella

Acting Director for the Western Balkans at the European Commission Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR)

Show more information on Michela Matuella

Michela Matuella is the Head of the Albania and North Macedonia unit in the Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR) of the European Commission, and Acting Director for the Western Balkans. She was previously Member of the Cabinet of the Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy, after having worked on the EU accession negotiations with Croatia and Romania, as well as on the negotiations for the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with Bosnia and Herzegovina. She has been chargé d’affaires for the EU Delegation in Eritrea, after several years of work in sub-Saharan Africa in Kenya, Lesotho and Somalia.

Manuel Sarrazin
Manuel Sarrazin

Special Representative for the Countries of the Western Balkans of the German Federal Foreign Office

Show more information on Manuel Sarrazin

Manuel Sarrazin serves as Germany’s Special Representative for the Countries of the Western Balkans. He is a former member of the German Bundestag, where he served as the chair of the German-Polish Parliamentary Friendship Group, as well as spokesperson and ombudsperson for European policy and spokesperson for eastern European policy for the Alliance 90/The Greens parliamentary group. In addition to his current role, Sarrazin also sits on the Board of Trustees of the Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation.

Jana Soukupová
Jana Soukupová

Founder of Youth, Speak Up! and EDYN Ambassador in the Czech Republic

Show more information on Jana Soukupová

Jana Soukupová is the Director of the Cabinet Department of the Minister for Science, Research and Innovation, and the founder of Youth, Speak Up!, an organisation that aims at introducing young people and their claims into politics. For that purpose, Soukupová opened deliberative platforms for young people in the Czech Chamber of Deputies, focusing on the usual political conversations such as environment, mental health, digitalisation or the support of early-career scientists through a youth-oriented perspective. Soukupová is also a national representative of the European Democratic Youth Network (EDYN), a network of 23 countries, including the Western Balkans, aimed at connecting young political leaders, civic activists, and journalists who share the commitment to defend freedom and promote peace.

Photo of Paul Taylor
Paul Taylor

Senior Fellow for Peace, Security and Defence at Friends of Europe

Show more information on Paul Taylor

Paul Taylor is a Senior Fellow at Friends of Europe and the author of the think tank’s European Defence Cooperation report series. He previously spent four decades working for Reuters as a foreign correspondent in Paris, Tehran, Bonn and Brussels, as bureau chief in Israel/Palestine, Berlin and Brussels, as chief correspondent in France, as diplomatic editor in London, and finally as European affairs editor. Taylor’s assignments have included covering the Iranian revolution, the Cold War Euromissile crisis, the 1991 Gulf War, German reunification, the Maastricht summit, France in the 1990s, EU enlargement, the Eurozone crisis and the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood government in Egypt.

Aleksandra Tomanić
Aleksandra Tomanić

Executive Director of the European Fund for the Balkans (EFB)

Show more information on Aleksandra Tomanić

Aleksandra Tomanić is the Executive Director of the European Fund for the Balkans. Prior to her appointment, she was a senior advisor with the German development agency GIZ, in charge of the German-Serbian Initiative for Sustainable Growth and Employment. She has worked as coordinator for regional initiatives and EU policies within the Serbian government’s Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit. Tomanić’s formal professional career began in Brussels at the European Commission Directorate-General for Enlargement, where she worked within the Enlargement Strategy and Policy Unit, covering various horizontal policies, civil society and media issues. Additionally, she was engaged in various forms of grassroots activism, from humanitarian to political areas, for over ten years.

Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga
Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga

Former president of Latvia

Show more information on Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga

Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga is currently a member, board member or patron of 29 international organisations. She recently served as the president of the Club de Madrid and chaired the high-level group on freedom and pluralism of the media in the European Union. Vīķe-Freiberga is known for her pivotal role in Latvia’s NATO membership and accession to the EU, as well as raising the nation’s recognition in the world through her work at the United Nations and the EU. She was named special envoy to the UN Secretary-General on reform and was official candidate for UN Secretary-General.

Ivana Živković
Ivana Živković

UN Assistant Secretary General, Assistant Administrator and Director of the Regional Bureau for Europe and Commonwealth of Independent States at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

Show more information on Ivana Živković

Besides her current role, Ivana Živković also serves as the Co-Vice Chair of the Regional Collaborative Platform for Europe and Central Asia (RCP), which unites all UN entities working on development for the 2030 Agenda. Živković is a Croatian career diplomat with more than 25 years of experience, having served as director-general for economic affairs and development cooperation in the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of her country. She held various positions in the field of development, regional cooperation, trade, and economic diplomacy and was posted to Stockholm and New York. She played a leading role in setting up the framework for international development cooperation in Croatia. During Croatia’s Presidency of the Council of the EU, she coordinated both the trade and the development teams.

Una Hajdari
Una Hajdari

Journalist

Show more information on Una Hajdari

Based between Italy and the Balkans, Una Hajdari is a reporter who regularly covers southeast European developments for Politico Europe. Her work particularly focuses on political transitions, nationalism and identity in former socialist countries, especially in central and eastern Europe. Notably, Hajdari is a recipient of the German Bundestag Solidarity Award for Journalists from the Southeast Europe. She has also held several research and reporting fellowships at the International Women’s Media Foundation, the Institute for Human Studies in Vienna, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and The GroundTruth Project, among others.

Sotiraq Hroni
Sotiraq Hroni

Executive Director of the Institute for Democracy and Mediation (IDM)

Show more information on Sotiraq Hroni

Sotiraq Hroni, former Albanian diplomat and former adviser to Albanian Heads of State and Government, is the Founder and Executive Director of the Institute for Democracy and Mediation (IDM), an Albanian non-profit organisation. The organisation operates in different areas such as local and national governance, security, policy hub, and regional cooperation. Hroni has led the organisation’s efforts to build efficient cooperation and partnerships with public and private institutions across the country, in line with national efforts.

Dharmendra Kanani
Dharmendra Kanani

Chief Operating Officer and Chief Spokesperson of Friends of Europe

Show more information on Dharmendra Kanani

Prior to joining Friends of Europe, Dharmendra Kanani was director of policy at the European Foundation Centre (EFC). He was the England director at the Big Lottery Fund, the largest independent funder in the UK and fourth largest in the world. Dharmendra has held senior positions in the public and voluntary sectors and advisor to numerous ministerial policy initiatives across the UK.

Photo of Jamie Shea
Jamie Shea

Senior Fellow for Peace, Security and Defence at Friends of Europe, and former Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

Show more information on Jamie Shea

Retiring from NATO in September 2018 after 38 years at the organisation, Jamie Shea has occupied a number of senior positions at NATO across a wide range of areas, including external relations, press and media, and policy planning. As NATO’s spokesperson, he was the face of the alliance during the Bosnia and Kosovo conflicts. He later worked as the director of policy planning in the private office of former secretary general Rasmussen during the preparation of NATO’s 2010 Strategic Concept. Shea is also a regular lecturer and conference speaker on NATO and European security affairs.

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