| | | | | | On behalf of the Austrian Institute for International Affairs – oiip, I want to remind you of the following Panel Discussion: How to win the fight for democracy in the Western Balkan? The impact of the super-election year 2024 The year 2024 epitomizes a democratic paradox. Although democracy will be on the ballot throughout the global super-election year, elections for the European parliament, US elections… democracy itself has rarely felt more vulnerable. In a cautioned warning proclaimed by the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Maria Ressa, ‘We will know whether democracy lives or dies by the end of 2024.’ In the Western Balkan EU candidate countries that had been experiencing democratic backsliding for already more than a decade, Ressa’s prophetic warning is even more worrying. We deem it crucial to open up an honest debate about the support by foreign actors to Western Balkans regimes that oscillate between autocracy and democracy in exchange for the false promise of stability. How to productively counteract stagnation and authoritarian entrenchment? Which are the instruments at hand to condemn electoral fraud in Serbia or stagnant levels of freedom of expression and alternative sources of information in the Western Balkans? What are the prospects to improving commitment to the enlargement process by showing clear support for recent pro-democracy initiatives in the region? We invite you to discuss with members of Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group (BiEPAG): Moderation: Vedran Dzihic Senior Researcher oiip Panelists: Florian Bieber Professor for Southeast European History and Politics at the University of Graz and director of the Centre for Southeast European Studies Richard Grieveson Deputy Director at the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw) Corina Stratulat Associate Director and Head of Programme, EPC – European Politics and Institutions, Brussels Marina Vulovic Researcher and Lecturer at the University of Potsdam, Visiting Fellow at the SWP Berlin With additional brief comments by: Lura Pollozhani Researcher at the Centre for Southeast European Studie Nikola Dimitrov President and co-founder of the Balkan Center for Constructive Policies – Solution, North Macedonia Jovana Marovic Former Deputy Prime Minister and European Affairs Minister of Montenegro Srdjan Majstorovic Chairman of the Governing Board of the European Policy Centre – CEP, Belgrade Date: Tuesday, 19 March 2024 Time: 18:00 - 19:30 Venue: oiip Währinger Strasse 3/12, 1090 Wien Registration In cooperation with the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw), the Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group (BiEPAG), Centre for Southeast European Studies, and European Fund for the Balkans (EFB). Best regards, Petra Podesser Österreichisches Institut für Internationale Politik Währinger Straße 3/12 A-1090 Wien Tel. +43 1 581 11 06-12 petra.podesser@oiip.ac.at www.oiip.ac.at | |
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