IRIS gathers renowned experts for a conference on the Balkans
July 3, 2015
On 2 July IRIS and the Polish Institute Sofia welcomed renowned experts for a conference on societal trends and processes in Southeast Europe entitled, "Alternative societal models for development in the Balkans." The conference was the largest of several stakeholders dialogue meetings that the Institute is conducting as part of the regional project, "Cross-border Citizens' Network for Peace, Inter-communal Reconciliation and Human Security" supported by the European Commission.
The event included two panels. One focused on general trends of societal development in the Balkan countries vis-a-vis the slowdown in EU enlargement and the alternative models offered by resurgent powers such as Russia and Turkey. The other took a closer look at three cases in point - Macedonia, Serbia and Kosovo.
The speakers were Ivan Krastev, chairman of the Centre for Liberal Strategies; Vessela Tcherneva, head of the Sofia office of the European Council for Foreign Relations; Jovan Bliznakovski, programme director of the Institute for Democracy Societas Civilis Skopje; Bobi Bobev, former Bulgaria ambassador to Albania and Kosovo; Valeri Ratchev, a security and foreign relations expert; as well as IRIS's Chairman Ognyan Minchev, Programme Director Stefan Ralchev, associate expert Goran Stojkovski and former programme director Marin Lessenski.
After the conference there was a cocktail on the occasion of the 18th birthday of IRIS. The Institute was established on 11 June 1997 as one of the first independent policy think tanks in Bulgaria and has since then implemented over 50 projects focusing on democracy, security, regional development, advocacy and strategic planning in Bulgaria, the Balkans and the Black Sea region.
