In partnership with the Balkan Center for Constructive Policies – Solution (North Macedonia) and the Embassy of Sweden, the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP) is hosting the fourth edition of the BSC Leaders Meetings event that will take place on 12 March 2025 in Podgorica, Montenegro.

The BSC Leaders Meetings present a series of half-day events organised throughout the Western Balkans. They are part of the Belgrade Security Conference (BSC) – a high-level international policy event organised by the BCSP each year in the third week of November in Belgrade.

The BSC Leaders Meetings aim to gather policy-makers and experts who will discuss major foreign and security challenges facing the region, geopolitical events and trends affecting it and to assess the future of democratic reforms, regional cooperation and the place of the Western Balkans in global politics.

Panel discussion “Montenegro’s European Dream: A Success Story for the Region?”

In December 2024, Montenegro reached a significant milestone in its European Union membership negotiations by provisionally closing three negotiation chapters during the Intergovernmental Conference in Brussels. This signaled a renewed momentum in its EU integration process. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described Montenegro’s ambition to become the EU’s 28th member by 2028 as achievable. Compared to other EU candidate countries, Montenegro’s small size and lack of major bilateral disputes with its neighbors position it as a clear frontrunner in the EU enlargement process. The aim of this high-level panel of the BSC Leaders Meetings is to take stock of the opportunities and obstacles standing between Montenegro and other Western Balkan countries’ EU membership. What are the remaining challenges Montenegro must address to be able to end the EU accession negotiations by 2028? What lessons can other Western Balkans countries take from Montenegro’s EU accession strategy? Could Montenegro’s progress catalyze renewed momentum in the EU integration of other Western Balkans nations? While 2025 promises to be a decisive year for EU enlargement, the question remains will the EU and its member states be ready to receive new members from 2028-2030?

Agenda

11:00 – 11:05 Opening remarks:

• Igor Bandović, Director of the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy

11:05 – 12:05 Panel Discussion:

• Jessica Rosencrantz, Minister for EU Affairs of Sweden
• Todor Goranović, Adviser to the Prime Minister of Montenegro for Security and Defence
• Nikola Dimitrov, President and co-founder of the Balkan Center for Constructive Policies – Solucija, former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia
• Vanja Ćalović, Executive Director of MANS

Moderator: Igor Bandović, Director of the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy

11:45 – 12:00 Q&A

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The Belgrade Centre for Security Policy as the organiser of the Belgrade Security Conference is happy to announce the winners of the Call for Proposals: Western Balkan Partners at the BSC 2024.

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The Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP) and the Balkan Center for Constructive Policies – Solution (North Macedonia) in cooperation with Open Society Foundations Western Balkans are honoured to announce that the BSC Leaders Meetings discussion will take place on 17 May 2024, from 10:00 CET, in Tirana, Albania.

The BSC Leaders Meetings present a series of half-day events organised throughout the Western Balkans. They are part of the Belgrade Security Conference (BSC) – a high-level international policy event organised by the BCSP each year in Belgrade. The BSC Leaders Meetings aim to gather policy-makers and experts who will discuss major foreign and security challenges facing the region, geopolitical events and trends affecting it, and to assess the future of democratic reforms, regional cooperation and the place of the Western Balkans in global politics.

Panel discussion “Albania and the Western Balkans in the EU by 2030: Tackling the Obstacles Ahead”

Ever since the publication of the Report of the Franco-German Working Group on the EU Institutional Reform in September 2023, the launching of the New EU Growth Plan for the Western Balkans in November 2023, and more lately the Communication from the European Commission on pre-enlargement reforms and policy reviews in March 2024, it has become obvious that after an initial geopolitical impulse to accelerated enlargement caused by the Russian aggression against Ukraine, the high speed EU integration train has left the station aiming to see the new member states join the Union as early as 2030. The Communication of the European Commission to the European Parliament and European Council has formally included all constructive proposals from the Western Balkans and European think tanks on how to render EU accession process more effective: introducing Qualified Majority Voting in all interim stages of the EU accession process, candidate countries joining the EU single market and gradual integration of the candidate countries before accession. Whereas there are many reasons for optimism, concerns remain whether the EU will achieve its institutional reforms in due time to welcome new members, and on the other hand whether the candidate countries in the Western Balkans will fulfill the criteria for EU membership before the due date.

The aim of this high-level panel of the BSC Leaders Meetings event is to take stock of the opportunities and obstacles standing between Albania and other Western Balkan countries’ EU membership by 2030.

Each BSC Leaders Meetings event includes a public panel discussion and a Chatham House debate dedicated to different foreign and security policy issues, including EU enlargement.

Agenda

10:00 – 10:15 Opening Remarks

· Dr. Srđan Cvijić, President of the International Advisory Committee of the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy

· Andi Dobrushi, Director of Open Society Foundations – Western Balkans

10:15 – 11:45 Panel Discussion

· Edi Rama, Prime Minister of Albania

· Prof. Dr. Daniela Schwarzer, Member of the Bertelsmann Stiftung Executive Board

· Majlinda Bregu, Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council

· Alba Çela, Executive Director and Head of the European Program at the Albanian Institute for International Studies

Moderator: Dr. Nikola Dimitrov, President and co-founder, the Balkan Center for Constructive Policies – Solucija, former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia

11:45 – 12:00 Q&A

12:00 – 12:30 Coffee Break

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Final Remarks and the closing of the Conference were preceded by the presentation of the statement of Serbian civil society organizations, read by Jelica Minić, President of the European Movement in Serbia. The statement urged the international community to act on the situation in Serbia, through ensuring the implementation of five key points. 

Bojan Elek, Deputy Director of the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy, stated in his closing remarks that the Conference had the very difficult task of trying to understand and begin to reconstruct the global order from disorder, which is unvailing before all our eyes.  

While summing up the whole conference he pointed out the wide array of topics that were discussed – from the European Political Community, state capture, unmasking election meddlers, the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, to feminist foreign policy, cyber security, and philanthropy. Mister Elek added that this conference was special because of the first “Lighthouse Award“ ceremony. 

Srđan Cvijić, President of the International Advisory Committee of the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy, started the final address of the Conference by expressing sorrow that only one representative of the government attended the Conference, added that „the regime actively tries to make our job more difficult“ and expressed the wish that all invited persons will be allowed to come to the conference in the following year. He thanked all the partners who helped the organization of the Conference, from civil society organizations to media and individual speakers and participants. Finally, mister Cvijić thanked the staff that organized the Conference for their hard work and unrelenting support.   

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The last panel of the Belgrade Security Conference 2023 titled “Greater and Better EU: 20 years from Thessaloniki Summit” was moderated by Milica Delević, Director for Competitiveness, Governance and Political Affairs, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and was focused on discussing the challenges of the future of the enlargement process and the new candidates’ readiness for the membership. 

Tetyana Kovtun, Executive Director, Reforms Delivery, Office of the Cabinet of Minister of Ukraine, stressed that the EU enlargement was an existential issue for Ukraine and that the aim of this process was to remain sovereign and independent. Kovtun pointed out that the support for EU integration inside Ukraine increased over the last few years and that even though Ukraine is at the beginning of its EU accession process, it hopes that the negotiations will be opened this December. She also noted that Ukraine will continue its fight for EU values.  

H.E. Emanuele Giaufret, Ambassador and Head of the Delegation of European Union to the Republic of Serbia, stated that the enlargement question had never been more imperative since the Thessaloniki Summit, as a result of Ukrainian suffering, and that the Western Balkans had a huge opportunity. He expressed the need for parallel deepening and widening of integration and stressed that the objective of the European enlargement had two aspects: it is a geostrategic decision, but it is also about providing people with a better life. The Ambassador continued by stating that this could only be achieved “if the citizens understand the specific moment in which we live”.  

Jovana Marović, Former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of European Affairs, Republic of Montenegro, emphasised that the new momentum for the Western Balkans meant business as usual˝ since she did not see the political will to seize the moment. She stated that it was not possible to have deadlines in the EU enlargement, but that it was possible to have roadmaps. She added that she believed that Montenegro could be ready for accession by 2030, but that there was only one enlargement process which meant that all candidates should help each other.  

Vladimir Međak, Member of the Main Board, European Movement in Serbia, said that the EU was currently thinking about things that the civil society and experts had been talking about for five to six years. He continued by saying that this particular enlargement would need to have out-of-the-box solutions since regular ones are not working. Međak raised the question of the role of media controlled by the regime in influencing public opinion on the EU and added that “what the population thinks about the EU is what the government wants them to think”.  

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This panel discussed what cybersecurity is and explored strategies for building the necessary capabilities to bolster cybersecurity in the Western Balkans, as well as to define the new and emerging terms of cyber diplomacy and cyber security. 

Karsten Diethelm Geier, Senior Advisor for Cyber Diplomacy, Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, started the panel with an explanation of a cyber diplomacy concept: “It is an area of international relations dealing with pivotal areas of electronic communications”, he stated. Answering the question if it would be easier for the countries of the Western Balkan to have one framework that aligns them with the EU framework, he explained that the future of the WB countries was in the EU’s hands and that cyber regulations needed to align to EU regulations, structures and institutions. He explained the necessity of a country having cyber security architecture but also informing others of the way it is used, to ensure a system of stability and predictability. 

Irina Rizmal, Manager, PwC’s CEE Cybersecurity & Privacy practice, stressed how important cyber diplomacy was in the 21st century. She stated that it could help alleviate and stop the conflicts. Rizmal talked about cybersecurity in the WB and emphasized that the pinpoint and the problem is implementation. Serbia has put a draft law on information security but “everything looks good on paper, what we lack is implementation”, said Irina.  She claimed, however, that even if we had the most expensive cyber solution, it is to no avail if the management does not perceive cybersecurity as something of great importance. 

Vladimir Radunović, Director of Cybersecurity and E-diplomacy, Diplo, explained that most of the cyber incidents were cross border – it is a mix of technology, legal and political aspects, therefore there needs to be a “whole of the state – whole of society” approach. Radunović added that international law was still unclear on whether a cyber-attack could trigger a defense, lethal response of an individual state. The problem that he sees is the absence of a political discussion on cybersecurity in the Western Balkan. He agreed with Irina Rizmal that implementation is even more demanding than planning. He explained that the Western Balkan countries could sign the OSCE Confidence Building Measures, the EU’s toolbox for cybersecurity, or accept UN norms dealing with the subject, but the biggest obstacle is implementing them effectively. 

The moderator, Amer Kapetanović, Head of the Political Department, Regional Cooperation Council, added that the normative framework for cyber diplomacy should not only include developed countries in this discussion but that no country should be left behind. 

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The aim of the panel titled “The Green Energy Transition in Serbia and Europe” was to discuss the issues related to lithium extraction as one of the key challenges that the EU and the rest of Europe are facing. The moderator of the panel was Stevan Vujasinović. 

Szymon Kardaś, Senior Policy Fellow within the European Power programme, European Council Foreign Relations, emphasised the importance of lithium as energy storage and pointed out that some projections expected the demand for lithium to increase 40-fold by 2040. He noted that 95% of the total production of lithium reserves is located in four countries (Australia, Chile, China, and Argentina). When it comes to the EU countries, the biggest deposit is located in Germany and the Czech Republic, and 1.3% of global lithium reserves are in Serbia. He highlighted three points in favour of lithium mining. First, the a need for political will, not only domestically, but will to cooperate externally. Second, the need to think about gaining the final “synergy effect”, and third, the need for cooperation to strengthen ties in Europe and inside the EU. He also added that Green Transition can only be successful if it is just, i.e. inclusive. 

When asked about the situation regarding Rio Tinto and sources of lithium in Serbia, Jovan Rajić, President of the Board of Directors, Renewables and Environmental Regulatory Institute (RERI), stressed that decisions related to this project needed to be considered in accordance with the best interests of citizens affected, and with Serbia’s national interests. He further explained the lack of communication and respect towards the interest of citizens, giving additional examples of the Ling Long factory in Zrenjanin and many others in Serbia. Rajić encouraged the development of communication between the official state organs and the public and urged the Government not to undermine the intelligence of the public as they did in the past.  

Johanna Sydow, head of the International Environmental Policy Division, Heinreich-Boll Foundation, explained that states were now seeking to be more independent from China regarding raw materials, one of the most important ones being lithium. She continued to point out that we will need to change our consumption pattern and invest more in public transport as we should not replace every fossil fuel-based car into an electric car. Mining always has irreversible environmental impacts and should be held at a minimum. 

Summing up, the moderator used the metaphor of the “pressure cooker” of energy transition that is galvanising the citizens, to explain that the pressure on the regulatory system can be relieved by introducing checks-and-balances (strong regulation), as well as international cooperation. 

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The panel under the title “Feminist Foreign Policy in Times of War: From Policy to Action” was moderated by Marie Jelenka Kirchner, Associate Researcher, Institute for Democracy Societas Civilis, Skopje. The panel tackled the topic of feminist foreign policy, its definition, as well as the question of which countries already implemented this view on the global world. 

When asked about the definition of feminist foreign policy from the view of the German approach to it, Serafine Dinkel, Associate Fellow, German Council on Foreign Relations, pointed out that the purpose of the feminist foreign policy was to be a vehicle for the protection of the most vulnerable marginal groups. She connected the feminist movement with security issues and gave examples of attacks on hospitals, sexual violence, and discrimination in occupied zones as instances of the struggle of marginalized groups in times of war. Dinkel defined feminist foreign policy as the redefinition and reflection on the previously set goals, which include holding governments accountable and protecting human rights. She pointed out the miscommunication between the feminist guidelines in the decision-making process and the practical politics of the governments.  

Elena Stavrevska, Lecturer in International Relations, University of Bristol, emphasized that the agenda consisted of 10 resolutions and stood on 4 pillars: participation, protection, prevention, and recovery. She said that national plans had been adopted in the Balkan countries, but raised the question of their purpose. Stavrevska pointed out that the domestic level needed to connect with the global in the context of hypercapitalism and emphasized that if a country had declared feminist foreign policy, it did not mean that it is like that in practice. Feminist foreign policy cannot call itself feminist without fighting the climate crisis, these issues need to be taken together. Different types of experiences, needs, and priorities have to be included not only in Feminist Foreign Policy but in every policy. 

Karolina Leaković, International Secretary of the Social Democratic Party of Croatia, shared her perspective on the approach to feminist foreign policy in the Balkans. She looked back on the feminist movements and feminist approach in politics during the times of the former Yugoslavia, emphasizing that the feminist label was lost after its dissolution and continued to be present only in Slovenia. Leaković pointed out that, once the feminist foreign policy started being created in the Balkans, all the socio-economic aspects of the region and the historical events should be taken into consideration for the policy to be successfully integrated. She stressed the issue of political leaders lacking cooperation regarding regional policy in general, and especially a feminist one.  

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The panel “Zeitenwende: A U-turn Nobody Predicted” examined the internal political situation in Germany and its policies towards the war in Ukraine and foreign and defense policies, after the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany Olaf Scholz announced a “180-degree course correction” in Germany’s traditionally cautious foreign and defense policy in his Zeitenwende speech in 2022. The moderator of this panel was Anna Kuchenbecker, Senior Director, of Strategic Partnerships, European Council on Foreign Relations. 

Christoph Matschie, Former Member of the German Bundestag and chairman of the Board, of the Ernst Abbe Foundation, commenced by analysing the first part of Scholz’s speech and pointed to three things. First is the fact that Germany was able to support Ukraine from the beginning of the war and that there is “no doubt Europe will continue to extend this support”. Second, Germany managed to free itself from energy dependence on Russia, find new partners, and roll out additional renewable sources. Lastly, he reminded the audience that it was necessary to step up German defense capability and that there were still many obstacles, but that good political decisions were made. As for long-term relations with Russia, he stated that it would depend on when the war ends, stressing that there will be no cooperation with the current regime in Russia. 

Rachel Tausendfreund, Senior Fellow, German Marshall Fund of the United States, followed up on the previous statement and pointed out that Germany has become the second-largest supplier of arms to Ukraine, and that there was also a shift in public opinion. She stressed that the Zeitenwende was real but more leadership is needed. According to Tausendfreund, Germany is dealing with challenges of decoupling, enlargement, and security only getting bigger. “I do not get the sense of urgency within the coalition that was reflected in Zeitenwende speech. In part, because of AFD far-right party”. 

Answering the moderator’s question of what he sees as the lessons learned, Florian Bieber, Professor of Southeast European History and Politics and Director, of the Centre for Southeast European Studies at the University of Graz, emphasized that the EU enlargement process needed to be re-imagined, more German leadership was needed, and the question of post-conflict challenges would need to be addressed. The word Zeitenwende opened up a space for debate. He expressed his belief that the logic of the Zeitenwende was a willingness to take risks.  

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Moderated by Rosa Balfour, the Director of Carnegie Europe, the panel titled “The US and Europe: What Transatlantic Alliance the World Needs?” dealt with the question of the European security architecture, its current state, and the possible scenarios that might play out in the near future. The panelists exchanged analysis about NATO’s influence in the year following the war in Ukraine and how the big powers, such as the US, EU, and China, shape security in the world. 

Answering the question of what has changed throughout the past year about European security, Eric Nelson, Associate Director of the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, explained that there had been a major shift in the level of NATO’s influence in the field and that NATO was more relevant than ever. He mentioned Finland and Sweden leaving their neutral stance. He pointed out that NATO was a complimentary actor to the security of the EU, as they have an obligation to protect Europe’s foundation of prosperity.  

Thomas Countryman, the Board Chairman of the Arms Control Association, mentioned three key points in demonstrating the importance of NATO’s essential presence. First, he pointed out that Russia’s invitation to Ukraine unified and expanded NATO, to defend European democracies. Second, the war has put more focus on establishing adequate defense spending mechanisms, and third, Russia is systematically breaking international humanitarian law by intentionally and massively attacking civilians. 

Rachel Rizzo, a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center, gave an insight into what the aims of the Biden administration were before the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. Four main goals characterized the administration: to reassure anxious allies, to turn attention to the Indo-Pacific region, to “park Russia” – meaning to disregard it as a policy priority and to create a foreign policy that will adhere to the middle class. With regard to 2024 and future elections, she expressed fear that Biden might be the last transatlantic president. 

Milan Nič, Senior Research Fellow in the Center for Order and Governance in Eastern Europe, Russia, and Central Asia, German Council on Foreign Relations, analysed the current Balkan situation, stating that the seeds of the conflict in Banjska, had been planted way before the current escalation. He noted that one of the consequences of the ongoing war in Ukraine was that it diverted the attention of NATO from other conflicts. He mentioned the examples of Nagorno Karabakh and Northern Kosovo, stating that even Kosovo Serbs are currently relying on NATO.  

In conclusion, the discussion on the transatlantic alliance between the US and Europe highlighted the increasing importance of NATO in the evolving European security landscape, with a major shift in its influence following the war in Ukraine. 

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