In the context of the upcoming High Level Conference on the Western Balkans on 23rd of June 2022 in Brussels, the director of the IIP, Stephanie Fenkart, talked with Adnan Ćerimagić about expectations and challenges of the upcoming conference. The conference has been initiated by France, who is holding the Presidency of the EU council and will gather the 27 EU member states, the Western Balkans 6 partners, and representatives of the EU institutions.

With the application of the three Eastern European states, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, to EU accession the Western Balkans re-gained attention of the European Union. What reforms need to be done, why are the Western Balkans important for the EU and how could a realistic enlargement process look like? How could the EU reward those countries who have been going through major reforms and how can those reform be motivated? What are the difficulties in the region and how can we foster cooperation to create a possible spill-over effect for neighboring countries when it comes to democratic reforms and economic integration?

These and other questions have been addressed in the IIT Talk on Revitalizing the EU-perspective for the WB.

Stay tuned for more IIP talks on EU integration!