- October 14, 2024
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- October 14, 2024
On October 14, the Southeast Europe Association and the Aspen Institute Germany together with civil society representatives had the honor of presenting recommendations from the Civil Society and Think Tank Forum 2024 to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and other distinguished leaders at the Berlin Process Summit. This opportunity for Western Balkan civil society to hand recommendations directly to leaders followed the Civil Society and Think Tank Forum on October 9-11 in Berlin and a Preparatory Forum on July 9-11 in Skopje. Since the second Berlin Process Summit in 2015, the Civil Society and Think Tank Forum has convened civil society to contribute their perspectives on issues facing the Western Balkans. This year, the Civil Society and Think Tank Forum developed policy recommendations within seven thematic working groups composed of Western Balkan and EU civil society representatives. Working Group A was dedicated to “EU Integration and the Berlin Process,” examining the progress made over the past decade and proposing recommendations for the future. In addressing social issues, Working Group B focused on “Dealing with the Past and Reconciliation,” while Working Group C was concerned with “Gender and Diversity.” Economic challenges and opportunities were tackled by Working Group D, which centered on the “Common Regional Market and Mobility.” The green agenda was covered by two working groups: Working Group E addressed “Energy, Climate Change, and Decarbonization,” and Working Group F focused on “Environment Protection and Sustainable Economic Development.” Lastly, Working Group G dealt with “Disinformation and Cyber Threats.” Each of these groups considered crosscutting issues including youth, the rule of law, national/ethnic minorities, and local perspectives and offered reflections on the achievements of the Berlin Process over the past ten years. Read policy recommendations from the Civil Society Forum: https://wb-csf.eu/publications-csf/policy-recommendations-civil-society-think-tank-forum-2024. Read the stocktaking study on 10 years of the Berlin Process: https://wb-csf.eu/publications-csf/stocktaking-study-10-years-of-the-berlin-process. The Civil Society and Think Tank Forum is generously supported by the German Federal Foreign Office.
