Annual Seminar I “Global Changes and the New Security Architecture”

Our Annual Seminar contributes to Serbia’s progress towards EU membership and improved understanding of the EU and the concrete benefits of membership on the part of the Serbian citizens while the specific objective is to facilitate the building and continued development of the democratically minded leadership in the political sphere and other parts of public life that will steer the state and society towards European integration in a knowledgeable and responsible manner.

This year’s seminar will focus on foreign policy and regional cooperation and will enable deepening of understanding of specific challenges that are common to all Western Balkan societies and promote a spirit of regional cooperation. The main themes of this seminar will be: regional cooperation, peace, stability and reconciliation among Balkan countries and the integration of the Western Balkans in the EU (common regional marker, growth plan, reconciliation as a key for further regional cooperation, foreign policy challenges for Serbia and the region, Belgrade – Pristina dialogue etc.). The questions that will be discussed with participants will also include: key challenges to the region until 2050 (depopulation and aging; social inclusion; green transition, global and geopolitical trends, rising and active presence of the global powers (“third powers”) in the region. The positioning of the countries from the region towards the actors like Russia, China and Turkey defines their dedication to the path towards EU membership as well, and that process can be impacted with the higher-level cooperation being developed with the partners from the East.

The project is a joint initiative of the Martens Centre and Hanns Seidel Stiftung Office in Belgrade, co-organised by the Balkan Fund for European Excellence.