Rule of Law in the Western Balkans: Necessary steps ahead, Den Haag

Ridderzaal in Den Haag
© Kevin Bergenhenegouwen
datum 17 oktober 2019 13:00 - 16:45
plaats Den Haag
locatie Clingendael Toon locatie
organisatie Instituut Clingendael i

The Clingendael Institute and the Think for Europe Network (TEN) have jointly organised this event. See the photostream of the event.

Establishing the rule of law remains a key challenge in the Western Balkans and represents one of the greatest obstacles in the EU accession process of the six countries of the region (Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Serbia).

Rule of law: stagnating or backsliding

While the EU’s membership conditions in this area have become stringer than in any previous enlargement round, and despite the EU’s employment of a more sophisticated monitoring mechanism, the actual performance of these countries on rule of law matters is rather modest. In fact, the countries are either stagnating or backsliding, a trend that has not only been confirmed by the reports from the European Commission, but also other independent indices like the Freedom House index.

This event will discuss the key challenges faced by countries in the Western Balkans in the area of rule of law and experiences in implementing relevant reforms especially in areas such as the fight against corruption and organised crime, the judiciary and freedom of speech.

It brings together experts from the Think for Europe Network - Institute Alternative (Podgorica, Montenegro) and European Policy Centre (Belgrade, Serbia), the Clingendael Institute (The Hague, Netherlands) and their networks, diplomats, politicians, policy and decision makers, and other practitioners. It is a public event, aimed at facilitating and encouraging public discussion.

Programme

13:00 - Registration and coffee (Hall)

13:30 - Developments in the Rule of Law in the Western Balkans

  • Anne Mulder (Member of Parliament and rapporteur Western Balkans for the Parliament)
  • Dina Bajramspahic (Research Director, Institute Alternative, Montenegro)
  • Wouter Zweers (Research Fellow, Clingendael Institute)

15:00 - Coffee Break

15:30 - Free Media and the Freedom of Expression

  • Dragana Bajic (Researcher, European Policy Centre, Serbia)
  • Janneke Fokkema (Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

16:45 - Informal reception

The event will be moderated by Louise van Schaik (Head Europe in the World, Clingendael Institute)

Registration

Please join us. Seats are limited. Sign up here.

Listen to the Dutch podcast of Senior Visiting Fellow, Jan Marinus Wiersma's 'wat als Nederland nee blijft zeggen tegen Balkan in de EU?'.


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Instituut Clingendael

Het Nederlands Instituut voor Internationale Betrekkingen ‘Clingendael’ is een kennisplatform met als doel kennis en inzicht over internationale betrekkingen te bevorderen en het publiek debat over internationale onderwerpen te stimuleren.

Instituut Clingendael is een denktank en een opleidingsinstituut voor diplomaten. Het Instituut identificeert en analyseert opkomende politieke en sociale ontwikkelingen voor een breed spectrum van doelgroepen door middel van onderzoek, opleidingen en via de platformfunctie. Clingendael adviseert daarnaast overheid, parlement, sociale organisaties en de private sector. Het Instituut verzorgt tevens het maandelijkse online Clingendael Magazine Internationale Spectator i.

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