The final day of the Belgrade Security Conference commenced with a keynote address by Ambassador Erin E. McKee, Assistant Administrator for Europe and Eurasia at USAID. She stated that Europe is at critical juncture and reflected on the suffering of Ukranians who continue to endure Putin’s brutality, emphasizing that Ukraine serves as an inspiration.

The panel was described as possibly having the most depressive topic at the conference, with a wide agreement that bilateral issues are hijacking the process of North Macedonia’s accession to the EU. This harms the public perception of EU credibility and slows down the motivation to undertake important reforms.

The panel focused on the participation of young people in reconciliation initiatives, as they have a unique opportunity to create peace. The panelists agreed that young people live in a difficult environment burdened by the past, which highlights the importance of facing it and understanding it to move forward. They concurred that the best way to build peace is to have an inclusive dialogue, allowing young people to humanize the Other.

The Panel on the Middle East touched on sensitive and difficult topics, but it led to general agreement on many important questions. The panellists agreed that there is no clear plan for what happens in Gaza after the end of the war, but that the long-term peace perspective depends on a two-state solution, as the regional conflict cannot be solved through violence. They also agreed that the war between Israel and the Palestinians is more like a civil war, as there are no clear borders, making the eventual conflict resolution more difficult.

The Panel on Non alignment and multipolarity reached a conclusion that there are many features of the world today that are reminiscent of the cold war, creating space more for neutral states to take a greater role. The panellists agreed that neutrality creates a lot of options and flexibility for states, especially in the role of conflict mediation, while choosing a camp comes at a high price and for many states not compatible with their national interests.

Before the panel on Non Alignment, Tvrtko Jakovina, Tenured professor, Department of History, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, gave a Commemorative lecture about Budimir Lončar, Yugoslavia’s last secretary for foreign affairs.

The panel started with a keynote speech of Alma Zadić, Federal Minister of Justice in Austria. The subsequent discussion underscored a shared consensus: judicial reform is both a fundamental precondition and a cornerstone of the EU accession process. As such, it requires a long-term perspective, regardless of the argument that countries in the Western Balkans waited too long for accession.

The stage for the panel was set by the Moderator, Marta Martinelli, Non-resident scholar at Carnegie Europe, who pointed to the very large number of conflicts around the world, where one in seven people experience some kind of conflict. The panellists readily agreed that the media do not give enough attention to conflicts outside of Europe, as well as to those conflicts which do not directly involve the geopolitical interests of Great Powers.

The ongoing war in Ukraine was one of the topics of the second day of the Belgrade Security Conference. Panelists engaged in a thought-provoking conversation, offering their views on the possible outcome of the war with new political circumstances in mind. The main conclusion was that exactly 1000 days from the start of the war, help to Ukraine and cessation of hostilities are of the utmost importance.