It takes two to tango: the Western Balkans between hope and reality

The co-founder of two companies on economic consulting and pharmaceuticals, Boskovic has extensive experience in the NGO, private and government sectors as well as at the University of Montenegro. He was recently appointed by the Government of Montenegro as acting director of the first science and technology park in the country. Prior to his current post, Boskovik was the director of the entrepreneurship and innovation centre “Technopolis” and General Director of the biggest football club in Montenegro “Buducnost”.

Majlinda Bregu is an accomplished Albanian politician and a strong believer in the European project. Before becoming the top official of the RCC, a regional cooperative framework for Southeast European countries promoting Euro-Atlantic integration, Bregu served as a member of parliament for three consecutive legislatures for the Centre Right. In this role, she worked for an all-inclusive approach and far-reaching consensus on the European perspective of Albania and the region. She has also served as the minister of European integration and as the government’s spokesperson, where she helped promote the importance of Albania’s membership perspective to the EU for the stability of the region. Additionally, she has actively supported and contributed to the Western Balkans Civil Society Forum established under the Berlin Process.

Josip Brkić’s career spans two decades, holding positions in the public sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including in the Ministry of European Integration and as Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Spain and Morocco. Brkić also has extensive experience in the private sector as director of a Sarajevo firm Talgo BH and as the head secretary of the Herzegovina University. In his current position he chairs the Commission for the NATO-integration process of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Prior to assuming his current positions as the State Secretary for EU Affairs and EU Sherpa to the Prime Minister in Sweden, Christian Danielsson served as the head of the European Commission Representation in Sweden. He has held several positions within the Commission, most notably as director-general for neighbourhood and enlargement negotiations, as well as enlargement, and as deputy secretary-general at the Secretariat-General. Danielsson is the former permanent representative of Sweden to the EU and has also previously served as the deputy head of cabinet to then-vice-president Günter Verheugen. Before joining the Commission, Danielsson worked for the Swedish diplomatic service.

Ulrike Damyanovic has worked in the Balkans for over two decades, including in multi-country interventions for the modernisation of education and labour market systems. At the ETF, she currently coordinates the organisation’s activities in the Western Balkans and helps support the implementation of the European Union’s enlargement and digital agendas. Damyanovic has developed training programmes aimed at delivering young people the right skills in a challenging socio-economic environment, placing special emphasis on creating an inclusive society.

A politician and journalist, Tanja Fajon is currently serving as Member of the European Parliament. A passionate advocate for freedom of movement and its economic benefits, Fajon previously served as the European Parliament rapporteur on the visa liberalisation process for the Western Balkans. In this position, she was instrumental in helping Albania as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina win the right to visa-free travel to Europe. In 2016, Slovenian opinion polls ranked her as one of the most popular political figures in the country.

Nicole Farnsworth leads research teams and co-authors reports at Kosovo Women’s’ Network, a network that advocates on behalf of women of all ethnic groups in Kosovo at the local, regional and international level. Originally from the US, Farnsworth has been living and working in Kosovo for 16 years, primarily with local civil society organisations. A sociologist, researcher and gender equality activist, she has written several influential reports on gender equality, gender-based violence, gender-responsive budgeting and integrating a gender perspective in the EU Accession process. Farnsworth is the Team Leader for an EU-funded Action to ‘Empower CSOs in Combatting Discrimination and Furthering Women’s Labour Rights’, implemented by a coalition of six women’s rights groups in the Western Balkans.

Rudina Hajdari is an Albanian politician who has represented Albania’s capital city, Tirana for two years in the national parliament. Hajdari also holds the position of Head of the Opposition and sits on the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on European Affairs within the Parliament of Albania. Her involvement in politics follows two years of experience at the United States House of Representatives, including on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Shada Islam is responsible for policy oversight of Friends of Europe’s initiatives, activities and publications, in the areas of the Future of Europe, Migration, the Asia Programme and the Development Policy Forum. Shada is Visiting Professor at the College of Europe (Natolin) where she teaches Asia-Europe relations and has been selected as a fellow by the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). Named as one of the twenty most influential women in Brussels by Politico, Shada is also one of the authors of Friends of Europe’s ‘Frankly Speaking’ commentary and is sought after as a speaker, commentator and moderator at high-level European and global events. Shada is the former Europe correspondent for the Far Eastern Economic Review and has previously worked on Asian and migration issues at the European Policy Centre.

Zoran Jolevski is a senior North Macedonian diplomat with over 20 years of experience in public affairs and foreign service. As the Ambassador to the United States, he helped secure American support for the accession of North Macedonia to NATO. In 2008, Jolevski was appointed to lead the negotiations on the naming dispute with Greece. Holding a PhD in International Economy from Saints Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje, Jolevski has also published widely on the subject of international trade.

Zvezdana Kovač has over 20 years of experience in journalism, television and editing. Originally from Montenegro, Kovac worked in project management in the Greek NGO sector prior to joining CDRSEE – a non-profit NGO which aspires to foster pluralism and democracy in Southeastern Europe through seminars, publications, conferences, research projects, exchange programmes and opinion polls. Before being named Executive Director, Kovač was the project manager for CRDSEE’s Joint History Project in Montenegro, aiming to shift the approach to history courses in Balkan schools.

Pronouns: he/him
Joe is the Editor-in-Chief of Debating Europe. He has been active in the EU blogosphere since 2008. Before starting work for Friends of Europe in 2011, he worked as a freelance journalist in the UK and Brussels, and edited BlogActiv.eu, a dedicated EU blogging platform. A part of Friends of Europe, Debating Europe is a successful online discussion platform based on a simple model: citizens ask questions, policymakers and experts respond. Since launching, it has built a 6+ million strong community of citizens and a social media following of over 271,000 people from across Europe.

Having previously held the positions of minister for labour and pension scheme and minister for regional development and EU funds, Marko Pavić is now chairing the Committee on Regional Funds and EU Funds at the Croatian National Parliament. Before entering the world of politics, Pavić dedicated his time to physics and oceanography. After finishing his studies, he travelled to Antarctica to study climate change developments. Among the various high-level positions he has held over the years, Pavić has worked as an Independent consultant for EU project development and has been involved in numerous organisational and educational development programmes.

David Ringrose is a civil servant with a career that spans nearly three decades in the European Commission. In his current portfolio, he coordinates DG CONNECT’s policy and regulatory dialogues with partner and external countries. Ringrose promotes the systematic integration of digital policies and tools into the EU’s foreign relations. He has held a series of posts dealing with the former Soviet Union and worked on the fifth enlargement of the European Union from 1997 to 2003, both in Brussels and Prague, coordinating the EU’s communication strategy in the candidate countries.

Velma Šarić is an internationally-renowned investigative journalist and researcher, having authored over 300 reports based on proceedings of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). As the Founder and President PCRC, a Sarajevo-based peacebuilding organisation which works to promote sustainable peace in the Balkans, Šarić has founded Balkan Diskurs, an online platform with over 100,000 members that challenges stereotypes and promotes new views on Balkan society and culture. Working through the PCRC and with the United Nations Office of the Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide, she has contributed to strengthening early-warning capacities across the Balkans.

Hasim Thaçi was elected President following 20 years of involvement with politics of the country. Thaçi has previously served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Prime Minister of Kosovo* over the course of two mandates. He chaired the Government of Kosovo* which declared Kosovo* an independent state, and also led the Kosovar team in the Rambouillet negotiations. He was the Political Chief of the Kosovo Liberation Army during the war in 1997-1999. Thaçi led the dialogue between Kosovo* and Serbia, which resulted with the Agreement on Normalization of Relations. As a result of these efforts he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Agi Veres currently leads the UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub, supporting 17 countries and one territory to deliver on achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals in the region. Veres has been working for UNDP since 2002 in various capacities at headquarters, regional and country levels. Prior to her appointment as Resident Representative of the UNDP in China, she was the Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP in Lesotho, and Deputy of the Bratislava Regional Centre for Europe and the CIS.