BUDAPEST BALKANS FORUM 2024

Day(s)

:

Hour(s)

:

Minute(s)

:

Second(s)

Venue

Corinthia Hotel Budapest

Erzsébet krt. 43-49.
Budapest, Hungary

Agenda

Tuesday

12

8:30 – 9:30

Registration

9:40 – 9:50

Opening remarks

Márton Schőberl

CEO of the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs

9:50 – 10:30

Warmup conversation

János Bóka

Minister for European Union Affairs of Hungary

Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky

Minister of Defence of Hungary

Moderator: Julianna Ármás

Research Fellow of the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs

10:30 – 10:50

Technical break  

11:00 – 12:00 

Securing energy, Energizing security: Ministerial roundtable

Péter Szijjártó

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary

Ahmet Berat Çonkar

Deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Türkiye

Dubravka Đedović

Minister of Mining and Energy of Serbia

Igli Hasani

Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of Albania

Moderator: Márton Schőberl

CEO of the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs

12:00 – 13:30

Lunch break  

13:30 – 14:40

CLOSED PANEL DISCUSSIONS

– PANEL 1

The World Elects: Diving into the Unknown in the Context of the Western Balkans

Keynote speech

Steven Everts

EU Institute for Security Studies

Panellists

Vesko Garčević

Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, Boston University

Edward P. Joseph

John Hopkins University

Berta López Domènech

European Policy Centre

Vessela Tcherneva

European Council on Foreign Relations

Moderator: Ágnes Vass

Hungarian Institute of International Affairs

New Kids on the Block: New Foreign Players in the Western Balkans   

Keynote speech

András Jenei

Centre for Fair Political Analysis

Panellists

Andreas Banoutsos

Center for International Strategic Analyses

Leon Malazogu

Balkan Policy Research Group

Vuk Vuksanović

Belgrade Centre for Security Policy

Duško Tomić

American University in the Emirates 

Moderator: Cintia Viola

Hungarian Institute of International Affairs

14:40 – 14:55

Coffee break  

14:55 – 16:05

CLOSED PANEL DISCUSSIONS – PANEL 2

Workforce Wanted: Tackling Labour Shortage in Central and Southeast Europe

Keynote speech

Jovan Despotovski

Technological Industrial Development Zones
of North Macedonia

Mihail Arandarenko

Faculty of Economics of the University of Belgrade

Szabolcs Pásztor

Oeconomus Economic Research Foundation

Mario Holzner

Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies

Anja Quiring

German Eastern Business Association

Moderator: Péter Goreczky

Hungarian Institute of International Affairs

Keeping the Lights Up:
Responding to Demographic Challenges 

Keynote speech

Tim Judah

The Economist

Holger Haibach

Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung office in Croatia and Slovenia 

Albert Hani

Regional Youth Cooperation Office

Péter Reményi

University of Pécs

Bujar Luma

Center for Balkan Cooperation LOJA

Moderator: Julianna Ármás

Hungarian Institute of International Affairs

16:05 – 16:20

Coffee break  

16:20 – 17:30

CLOSED PANEL DISCUSSIONS – PANEL 3

Future of EU Enlargement Policy: Can we keep up the dynamism?

Keynote speech

Kimmo Kiljunen

Foreign Affairs Committee at the Parliament of Finland

Norbert Beckmann-Dierkes

Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung office in Bulgaria

François Lafond

Blue Networks and Opportunities

Sava Mitrović

European Policy Centre (CEP – Belgrade)

Ferenc Németh

Hungarian Institute of International Affairs

Moderator: Bálint László Tóth

Mathias Corvinus Collegium

No pain, No gain:
Regional cooperation 
 

Keynote speech

Attila Galambos

Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Zsolt Darvas

Bruegel & Corvinus University of Budapest

Ardian Hackaj

Cooperation and Development Institute, Albania

Zdravko Ilić

CEFTA Secretariat

Anna Orosz

Hungarian Institute of International Affairs

Moderator: András Braun

International Republican Institute

Wednesday

13

9:00 – 10:00

Registration

10:00 – 10:20

Keynote Speech

Zsolt Németh

Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee
of the Hungarian National Assembly

10:20 – 11:15

‘Hot Spots’ of the Western Balkans

Haakon Blankenborg

Special Representative of Norway for the Western Balkans 

Anžej Frangeš

Director-general, Special Envoy for the Western Balkans

René Troccaz

Special Envoy for the Western Balkans of France

Márton Ugrósdy

Deputy State Secretary, Office of the Prime Minister’s Political Director

Moderator: László Dux

Head of the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy and Enlargement Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary

11:15 – 11:45

Coffee break  

11:45 – 12:05

Keynote Speech

Brigadier General Balázs Szloszjár

Commander, Hungarian Defence Forces General Staff Joint Operations Command and Control Centre

12:05 – 13:00

Security Maintained: International Actors and Missions on the Ground 

Brigadier General Federico Bernacca

Deputy Commander of the Kosovo Force

Zsolt Bunford

Deputy State Secretary for Security Policy of the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary

Major General László Sticz

Commander of the European Union Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina (EUFOR Althea)

Brigadier General Pamela McGaha

Commander and Senior Military Representative of the NATO Headquarters Sarajevo

Moderator: Csaba Rada

Head of the Western Balkans Department at the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary

13:00 – 13:10

Closing remarks

Márton Schőberl

CEO of the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs

13:10

Farewell lunch