On November 23, 2023, a conference titled “Balkan Economic Horizons through Regional Integrations” was held, organized by the Foundation for the Advancement of Economics (FREN) and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES). The conference focused on regional integrations in the Balkans, with a special emphasis on the Open Balkan initiative.
For several years, the Balkan region has been witnessing processes of regional integration, ranging from the pioneering Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) to the latest initiative, “Open Balkan.” The European integration process is strategically important for all Western Balkan countries due to the connection of their economies with the EU’s single market. However, these various integrations and collaborations within them have experienced both successes and setbacks.
Participants in the conference included:
• Dejan Molnar, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Economics, University of
Belgrade, and Director of the Foundation for the Advancement of Economics
(FREN), Belgrade.
• Predrag Bjelić, Full Professor at the Faculty of Economics in Belgrade.
• Gordana Đurović, Full Professor at the Faculty of Economics in Podgorica.
• Irena Kikerkova, Full Professor at the Faculty of Economics in Skopje.
• Bojan Stanić, Director of the Strategic Analysis Sector at the Chamber of
Commerce of Serbia.
• Tatjana Dinkić, Head of the EU and EFTA Group at the Ministry of Internal
and External Trade and Secretary of the National Trade Facilitation Body.
This was an opportunity for Prof. Gordana Đurović to present the first results of the research being carried out in the Montenegrin Pan-European Union, which is implementing the project “Advantages of the Berlin Process in relation to alternative regional initiatives: Recommendations for Montenegro”, with the support of the regional program @SMARTBalkansProject.