EWI Hosts Fourth "Balkan Dialogues" Webinar on Kosovo-Serbia Agreement
News | July 13, 2020
On July 1, EWI’s Balkan program organized a digital meeting on the “Kosovo Serbia Agreement: Beginning with the End in Mind”—the fourth session in its Balkan Dialogues series.
The webinar hosted 150 attendees and 20 speakers, including Miroslav Lajcak, chief EU negotiator for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue; Mathew Palmer, State Department Special Envoy for the Balkans; Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger; Dr. Michael Carpenter, managing director of the Penn Biden Center; Ambassador Cameron Munter; and many other experts and diplomats.
In a lively discussion, the speakers employed cautious optimism, exchanging views on the current status of the Kosovo-Serbia negotiations, as well as the troubling state of relations between the EU and the U.S. All participants argued that dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo has no alternative, and should resume as soon as possible under EU leadership, in partnership with the U.S. The panelists also unanimously agreed that the Euro-Atlantic partnership, being the key historical geopolitical alliance "which ended World War II," needs to be once again strengthened.
Following the event, multiple media reports and analyses appeared in print and electronic media across the Balkans. Numerous comments submitted to organizers after the event emphasized that continued efforts through the Balkan Dialogues will have a crucial role for the success of Serbia-Kosovo negotiations in the months to come.
The next session is slated to take place by the end of September, with several smaller discussions focused on individual elements of key importance for the sustainable agreement, organized in the meantime.
EastWest Institute has launched the Balkan Dialogues initiative in response to the urgent need for inclusive and open, high-level dialogue concerning pressing security challenges threatening the Western Balkans, aiming to increase and deepen understanding and build trust between representatives of the various geopolitical interests present in the region today. For more information on the initiative, please click here.
Media coverage from the event: