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17 04 2007 BIRN held a panel discussion on Thursday, April 12 in Belgrade on the developing role of Southeast European countries as members of the international community.
The
event, held at the Belgrade Media Centre and attended by journalists,
experts and diplomats, addressed regional cooperation as a means to
helping Balkan countries define and achieve their foreign policy goals.
It followed publication of a special edition of Balkan Insight, BIRN’s
online publication, on this topic, available at www.birn.eu.com/en/78/10/.
Speakers at the event included:
Dusko Lopandic, assistant minister in the Serbian ministry for international economic relations;
Jadranka Sturm-Kocjan, deputy ambassador of the republic of Slovenia;
Hans Hageman, counsellor of the Royal netherlands Embassy;
Ivan Vejvoda, Director of the Balkan Trust for Democracy;
Emil Kirjas, former State Secretary at the Macedonian foreign ministry; and
Milica Djilas, Assistant professor at the Belgrade Faculty of Political Sciences.
The image of the region as engulfed in its own problems is deeply
ingrained, both here and abroad, with “the Balkans” still conjuring up
a negative image. For this reason, BIRN felt it was time to look ahead,
and ask what the Balkan countries can do to improve their international
standing, especially with talk of enlargement fatigue, and the
possibility of national referenda on future candidates for EU
membership.
General conclusions of the debate were that countries should strive to
form a better, stronger engagement in international affairs, but that
their presence was dependent on national consensus on values and
direction. Also, they agreed that regional cooperation is imperative in
most aspects to create a stronger position for the small countries and
economies of the Wetern Balkans.
Panellists agreed that one of the greatest challenges now facing the
region is to take a more pro-active approach to Kosovo, focussing not
just on the matter of its status, but also taking responsibility as
neighbours to build there a functioning administration.
Also, they agreed that regional cooperation needs to be dealt with much
more seriously, to root out inconsistencies and barriers. States, for
example, should do much more to facilitate movement and exchange, by
way of visa facilitation and creation of better transport links.
The event coincided with a BIRN regional network meeting, which
gathered its contributors from throughout the Balkans for investigative
journalism training and editorial planning.
At the beginning of 2010 BIRN network published Digging Deeper - A Guide for Investigative Journalists in the Balkans, written in cooperation with Sheila Coronel, Director of the Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism and professor of professional practice at Columbia University, New York.
