The traditional Bled Strategic Forum, which begins today in Bled, Slovenia, will be dedicated this year to stability in the region, sustainable development and economic prosperity. Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic represents Serbia.
The two-day gathering ”Sources of (in) Stability” will bring together a number of senior EU officials from the Western Balkans, Turkey, the US and international organizations this year, but a star of the gathering will be undoubtedly be a newly appointed US Special Rapporteur on the Balkans Matthew Palmer, reports Belgrade based daily Blic.
Foreign Affairs Minister Ivica Dacic is one of the speakers on the panel entitled “Western Balkans – Europeisation, Democratization, Shared Responsibility”. He will meet Palmer on the sidelines of the forum, the Foreign Ministry said today.
Slovenian Prime Minister Marjan Sarec will open the international conference, and UN General Assembly Speaker Maria Fernando Espinoza Garcia was announced as the keynote speaker at the opening ceremony.
The program is scheduled to be addressed by the host country’s president Borut Pahor and Estonian head of state Kersti Kaljulaid.
“Resources, their availability and regional dispersion shape strategic relations in the international community. Effective management of strategic resources maintains stability, reduces security risks and contributes to improving living standards, while uneven and unfair distribution leads to inequality and concentration of resources in power centers,” the official agenda of the Bled Forum points out.
Forum participants include Spain’s foreign minister and future EU foreign policy chief Joseph Borel, as well as Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
Sustainable Development Center Director Jeffrey Sachs will speak about sustainability, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet will present on the human rights situation, and due to the current situation in the world, a panel on climate change will certainly attract a lot of attention, with the Finish Minister of Foreign Affairs as the keynote speaker, Pekka Haavisto.
The two-day conference will conclude with a panel that will bring together the Heads of Diplomacy of the region, who will discuss, with Palmer’s participation, the Europeanization, democratization and responsibilities of the Western Balkans.
In addition to the main conference program, there will be a Strategic Youth Forum, entitled “Youth as a (Future) Resource”, at which young people attending the Forum will try to prove that youth is a valuable resource in many ways.
This year’s Strategic Forum will bring together the business community in a Business Forum, dedicated to how to win in an environment of constant change, a climate-neutral smart economy and exponentially growing international tourism.
