- June 03, 2024
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- June 06, 2024
On June 3-6, 2024, the Aspen Institute Germany hosted a high-level conference in Berlin entitled “New Momentum: Western Balkans on the Road to EU Enlargement”.
The Russian aggression against Ukraine has significantly changed the geopolitical situation in Europe. In the past year, the geopolitical awakening of the EU has also led to a new dynamic in the enlargement process. In 2023, the European Council decided to open accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova, and later with Bosnia and Herzegovina, “once the necessary degree of compliance with the membership criteria is achieved”. Georgia was also added to the list of candidate countries in December 2023. President of the European Council Charles Michel even introduced a concrete date at last year’s Bled Strategic Forum when he stated “I believe we must be ready – on both sides – by 2030 to enlarge.” Nevertheless, the Western Balkans still have a way to go. Reforms on the rule of law are lagging, and democratic processes still need to be strengthened in many ways. In this context, the conference aimed to provide a framework for exchange on current issues relating to the enlargement process.
The aim of this conference was to provide a platform for high-level participants from the Western Balkans, Germany, the EU, the U.S., and international and regional organizations to discuss and identify central challenges and opportunities for EU enlargement in the Western Balkans. Following the last Aspen Germany conference in Montenegro on “Digitalization and Democracy”, which dealt extensively with topics of media freedom and disinformation, this conference asked questions such as: What are the latest developments in the accession negotiations? How can disillusionment in society be prevented despite the sometimes slow progress in the accession process? What measures should the EU take to drive the enlargement process forward? To what extent should individual member states be involved? How can the Western Balkans support each other in the reform processes? What geopolitical factors influence the accession process of the Western Balkans? These questions and others were addressed at our conference.
This event was part of the “Western Balkans Initiative: Engagement for Progress and Stability” project, kindly supported by the German Federal Foreign Office.
