The European Union (EU), its Eastern partners and the Western Balkans all share a vital interest in ensuring peace and comprehensive security in Europe as a primary condition for their stability, prosperity and development. To advance this shared interest, the EU relies on different sets of external policies promoting cooperation and / or integration in wider Europe, regardless of thefinalité of the process. From Tbilisi to Pristina, from Minsk to Belgrade, the challenges faced by the EU and its partners are very different. But they also show a number of commonalities. Almost thirty years after the Charter of Paris for a new Europe and in the context of Brexit, the challenge of unity, integration and cooperation in wider Europe remains more topical than ever. This public roundtable, building on both the “Eastern Partnership Reflection Forum” and “Western Balkans Reflection Forum” initiatives, will seek to advance a wider, strategic reflection on the EU’s externalapproach across its neighbourhoods. How much commonality is there in the EU’s approach towardsits Eastern and Western Balkan partners? What can the EU achieve in its changing neighbourhoods, considering its internal fragilities? What is at stake for the EU in the wider geopolitical context? What lessons can be drawn from the EU’s experience in both fields?
PROGRAM OF THE EVENT:
17h45: Registration 18h00: Opening
Emil Brix, Director, Vienna School of International Studies, Vienna
Magda Stumvoll, Programme Coordinator and Research Fellow, Austro-French Centre
for Rapprochement in Europe, Vienna
18h15 Keynotes
Werner Fasslabend, President, Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy, Vienna
Thomas Greminger, Secretary General, Organisation for Security and Co-Operation in Europe, Vienna
Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Brussels (tbc)
18h45: Panel discussion
Luiza Bialasiewicz, Professor, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam
Srđan Cvijić, Senior policy analyst, Open Society European Policy Institute, Brussels
Christophe Hillon, Research Professor, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs,
Oslo
Ferdinando Nelli Feroci, President of the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI), Rome
Moderation: Hannes Swoboda, President, International Institute for Peace (IIP), Vienna
20h15: A Perspective from the region
• Daniela Morari, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of the Republic of Moldova, Chisinau (tbc)
20h30: End of the event
Organised by, in cooperation with and with the support of
Austro-French Centre for Rapprochement in Europe (CFA), Vienna
French Institute for International Relations (Ifri), Paris
Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy (AIES), Vienna
Competence Center for Black Sea Region Studies (CCBRS), University of Applied Sciences
BFI Vienna
International Institute for Peace (IIP), Vienna Karl-Renner-Institut (RI), Vienna
Austrian National Defense Academy (LVAk), Vienna Diplomatische Akademie Wien (DAk), Vienna
Austrian Presidency of the Council of the European Union
Austrian Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs (BMEIA), Vienna Central European Initiative, Trieste (CEI)
Centre international de formation européenne (CIFE), Berlin/Nice
Minsk Dialogue Track-2 Initiative (MD), Minsk
Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI), Rome
German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), Berlin
Austrian Institute for International Politics (OIIP), Vienna
University of Vienna – Research Center for Eurasian Studies (EURAS), Vienna Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung Regional Office for Cooperation and Peace in Europe, Vienna
The Discussion will be held in English.
Please, fill out the registration form.
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