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

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.

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.

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 Čerkez currently serves as Managing Director of the Global Asthma and Allergy Excellence Network, which promotes cutting-edge research, innovation and medical education in allergy, asthma and dermatology research worldwide. He is also a founder of Youth Power, an influential Bosnian NGO that pushes for non-violence, human rights and tolerance in the country. His inspirational work 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, Čerkez has championed the need for more interfaith dialogue. He has also brought his message directly to citizens, providing lessons to prevent alcohol abuse, sexually transmitted diseases and violence in schools.

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.

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 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 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 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 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.

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 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 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.

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.

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, 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.

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.

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.