The Balkans Silk Road - New Perspectives for the Western Balkans as China and the European Union Connect in South Eastern Europe
Practical information
Related centers and programs
Registration for this event is now closed.
Find out more about our donor programsA seminar of the Reflection Forum "The Western Balkans in the European Union" - Participation upon invitation only
Programme
8h30 Registration, Coffee and Kipferl
9h00 Opening
• Alexander KMENTT, Ambassador, Permanent Representative to the Political and Security Committee, Permanent Representation of Austria to the European Union, Brussels
• Dominique DAVID, President, Austro-French Centre for Rapprochement in Europe and advisor to the President of the French Institute of International Relations (ifri), Paris
9h10 Setting the scene – South Eastern Europe, China and the EU
• Jens BASTIAN, Independent Financial Sector Analyst & Economic Consultant, Athens
• Gudrun WACKER, Senior Fellow, Research Division Asia, German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), Berlin
• Nicolas CENDROWICZ, Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR), Deputy Head of Balkans Regional Cooperation, European Commission, Brussels
Moderation: Dominique DAVID, President, Austro-French Centre for Rapprochement in Europe and advisor to the President of the French Institute of International Relations (ifri), Paris
10h10 Coffee and networking break
10h30 Views from South-Eastern Europe: China’s engagement in the region
• Dragana MITROVIĆ, Professor of Political Sciences, University of Belgrade, Executive Director of the Centre of Asian and Far Eastern Studies, Belgrade
• Ardian HACKAJ, ShtetiWeb Director, Cooperation & Development Institute (CDI), Tirana
• Zoran NECHEV, European Union Insitute for Security Studies (EUISS), Paris and Center for EU Integration at the Institute for Democracy ‘Societas Civilis’, Skopje
Moderation: Tobias FLESSENKEMPER, Senior Fellow and Project Balkans project Director, Centre international de formation européenne (CIFE), Nice
11h30 Coffee and networking break
11h45 EU’s connectivity agenda and the Berlin process: the impact of China’s engagement in South-Eastern Europe
• MEN Jing, Professor of European Union-China Relations; Director of the EU-China Research Centre, College of Europe, Bruges
• George TZOGOPOULOS, Senior Research Fellow, Centre international de formation européenne (CIFE); Researcher, Begin-Sadar Center for Strategic Studies (BESA) and Hellenic Foundation for European & Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP), Athens and Nice
• Agatha KRATZ, Associate Fellow, European Council on Foreign Relations, London
Moderation: Dušan RELJIĆ, Head of Brussels Office, German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), Brussels
12h45 Conclusion of the seminar
Other events
Lunch debate with Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of New Zealand
Discussion co-chaired by Thierry de Montbrial, Executive Chairman of Ifri, member of the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, and Marc Hecker, Deputy Director of Ifri (in English without translation).
North Korea Beyond Nukes: Focusing on the Human Rights Challenge
Debates surrounding North Korea are primarily focused on security issues, particularly nuclear and ballistic concerns, relegating the critical situation of the North Korean population and human rights violations to the background. The lack of information about the real living conditions of North Koreans contributes to the absence of attention and discussion on this crucial issue.
Shaping Europe’s Technological Sovereignty
In the wake of Donald Trump's re-election in the United States, Europeans face a crucial imperative: rethinking their sovereigny, especially in the technological realm. What will be the strategic priorities and action levers of the new European Commission on this issue? What assessment can we make of the previous Commission’s achievements and challenges in navigating Sino-American technological competition, transatlantic dependencies, and emerging global partnerships?