Date:      26 April 2019
Venue:   Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic
Organised by the Prague Security Studies Institute and the Institute of International Relations in cooperation with the Foreign Ministry’s Department of Foreign Policy Analysis and Planning under the auspices of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic

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On April 26, 2019, a concluding conference was held within the project's framework at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Prague. It aimed to assess the influence of all key external actors playing a role in the Western Balkans (one of the last European regions not integrated to the EU or to NATO) in the changing global context marked by worsening of Western  relations with Russia, fears of Chinese economic expansion, increasingly tense relations with Turkey, and increasing presence of the Gulf. It discussed the current challenges and vulnerabilities of Western Balkans countries, ways how they are exploited by external actors as well as foreign policy objectives and strategies of international players and how these are interconnected.

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The event was opened by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tomáš Petříček, PSSI Programme Director, Petr Lang, and IIR Director, Ondřej Ditrych. It got together senior officials, Balkan experts, policy-makers, diplomats, academics and researchers as well as specialized journalists to approach the topic from a variety of perspectives instigating a fruitful debate.

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Read the conference report summarizing the main points of speakers' presentations and debates. You can download it here.

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To see the conference program, follow this link.