CERCLE DIPLOMATIQUE - issue 01/2018

LE MONDE ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION –
WESTERN BALKANS
Ambassadors ‘ Summit #6
“A Europeanisation of the Balkans and a Balkanisation of Europe.“
An exclusive high-level discussion
between the Ambassadors of
5 Western Balkan states – Albania,
Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Montenegro, Macedonia and
Kosovo – about the European
perspective of their countries.
Their résumé: 2025 shall be a
magic year of accession to the
European Union.
Moderated by Rainer
Himmelfreundpointner
CD: Your Excellencies, some 15 years ago with the
Thessaloniki Agenda, the European Union
promised the perspective of integration and
membership to the Western Balkan countries. Did
it keep this promise? How would you judge the
attractiveness of the EU to your countries today?
Vasilka Pop0ska Trenevska: Th e
Western Balkan is geographically, culturally
and historically a part of Europe. Although
the Thessaloniki Agenda made manifest
the commitment of the EU to
including Western Balkans within the European
Union, it is hard to deny that passing
of years and stalled progress has, at
times, been the cause of dampened enthusiasm
for membership. However, the Berlin
Process has certainly reinvogorated the
path of integration. By supporting the development
of the region with financial capital,
the EU has demonstrated the importance
it places on connecting people and
nations within the region.
Roland Bimo: The prospect of EU
membership has been very successful in
consolidating state building and democratic
reforms and the best anchor to support
regional order in the Western Balkans. The
history of our region would have been very
different without the prospective of EU
membership. Today, it is no longer a region
associated with violence, conflicts and po-
H. E. VASILA POPOSKA TRENEVSKA
H. E. ROLAND BIMO
PHOTOS: XYXXYXYXY
PHOTOS: RALPH MANFREDA
H. E. SAMI UKELLI
H. E. TOMISLAV LEKO
H. E. IVAN MILIC
The Ambassador of the Republic of Macedonia
to Austria since 2014, holds a PhD from the
faculty of economics of the University of St
Clement of Ohrid/Bitola. Prior to her diplomatic
services, she also worked as an associate
professor at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
in Skopje.
The Ambassador of the Republic of Albania to
Austria since 2014 was born in Tirana and is a
veteran diplomat who served in China, Poland,
the US, Hungary, the Netherlands and Brazil. A
former engineer in Albania‘s oil industry, Bimo
studied electronics at the Tsinghua University
in China.
The Ambassador of the Republic of Kosovo,
which has just celebrated its 10th anniversary
of independence, studied Social Sciences at the
University of Linz, where he also met his wife.
Prior to this embassy position in Austria, Ukelli,
served as his young country‘s Ambassador to
Japan.
The Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina to
Austria, the UN, OSCE and International Organisations,
born in Zagreb, heads his embassy in
Vienna since 2015. He is a graduate from the
University of Zagreb in economics and has made
a career in business (food, construction,
exploration) prior to his diplomatic service.
The Ambassador of the Republic of Montenegro
represented his country in Austria from June 2015
to the end of 2017. Prior to that, he held the
Ambassadorship to Slovenia and various high
positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
European Integration of Montenegro. He holds a
degree of the Faculty of Law in Podgorica.
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Cercle Diplomatique 1/2018