News
The paper offers a list of effective, clear-cut, policy-oriented recommendations which blaze the trail for the European engagement with the young generation of the Western Balkans. It paves the way for a reinvigorated and substantial commitment that ensures a more prosperous, EU-oriented vision of the region in the coming decade.
EU’s Parliament’s and Commission’s steadfast commitment to the European integration of the Western Balkans is clear, despite the recent setback in this process when in October 2019 the decision to open the long awaited accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania was blocked. The upcoming year 2020 offers a number of opportunities to reinvigorate the integration process. Those opportunities come not without their own challenges and therefore need to be carefully considered.
Four panelists from Israel and Palestine presented and discussed their visions for peace in the region. By elaborating the current situation in Israel and Palestine, they concluded that a two-state solution is the only possibility in order to fully guarantee security, equal rights and freedom for everybody.
The European Parliament (EP) is often criticized for being unaccountable to its citizens and highly technocratic. The main decisions are made in the committees and there is hardly any debate in the plenary. This apolitical nature of the EP will likely be changed in this new legislative period, shaping a more politicized European assembly. What does it mean for European foreign policy, in particular in the Eastern Neighborhood? While traditionally the European Parliament is considered to have limited competences in foreign policy, this article shows that at least with regard to the European Neighborhood Policy, it enjoys considerable powers and informal influence. Taking a case of Euronest Parliamentary Assembly I also look into how it has utilized its opportunities to conduct interparliamentary diplomacy and what its purpose was for MEPs.
[VIDEO AVAILABLE] During this public talk Artyom Shraibman does not only reflect on the Belarusian domestic politics, but also on Belarus´relationship with the West on the one hand and Russia on the other hand. During the Question & Answer session several topics, as for example the role of China, interesting dymanics in the opposition or the concept of neutrality for Belarus were discussed.
Elizabeth Spehar is the Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP). In a public talk she gives a historical overview of peacekeeping missions, in order to present on the one hand the existing challenges and achievements of the operations and on the other hand the new initiative ,,Action for Peacekeeping” (A4P).
