The European Center of Peace Science, Integration and Cooperation at the Catholic University "Our Lady of Good Counsel" organized the meeting on "Enlargement: Issues and Perspectives in the Western Balkans".
The purpose of this meeting was to deepen the view on the process of expansion of the European Union towards the countries of the Western Balkans. Nowadays there are many opportunities to explore the different perspectives of this process through an interdisciplinary approach and this was made possible at this meeting through the perspectives of the invited speakers. The meeting was organized in cooperation with the Trans-European Caucasus and Balkans Observatory.
In welcoming the guests, the President of the ‘Our Lady of the Good Counsel’ Foundation, Fr. Ruggero Valentini quoted the statement of the former Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, who during a visit to Albania said, “The world is surrounded by conflicts, but we have a solution: the European Union”. In this content fr. Ruggero Valentini stated that Albania has strong European characteristics because Europe itself is a community that overcomes conflicts. He stated that Albania deserves to be part of the EU, recalling the quote of the Renaissance Pashko Vasa: "the religion of Albanians is Albanianism", showing that Albanians are in tune with European values.
CESPIC Director Prof. Raul Caruso, presenting a broad vision of the conditions in which the enlargement process takes place, said that Europe is a source of inspiration and that we need to know the prospects of the process.
Director of the Institute for International Studies Dr. Albert Rakipi, who attended the conference, said that the main question remains how the Western Balkan countries should build a legal and democratic state.
Ms. Marta Szpalla recalled the experience of Poland at the time when this country joined the European Union, as an example that shows the further expansion of the union.
While Ms. Luiza Chiodi, head of the Trans-European Caucasus and Balkans Observatory, focused on the issues that currently concern the European Union such as the free market, energy, security, immigration.
