8 October 2021
The 7th edition of Tirana Connectivity Forum organized by Cooperation and Development Institute in Tirana, in cooperation with the three German political foundations Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Friedrich Ebert Foundation and Hanns Seidel Foundation and also supported by Europe House Albania, took place on 7-8 October, 2021 in hybrid format at the premises of Europe House in Albania and on Zoom online Platform. TCF2021 was also part of the official calendar of the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU.
Under the theme “Building Better Balkans Together”, this year, the Forum aimed to provide a platform where the challenges of togetherness and of institutional good governance were assessed, discussed, and dissected with the goal to make more efficient and sustainable the SEE6 development and its convergence with the EU.
Witnessing the current increase of connectivity initiatives in the region, of the actors involved and of available financing possibilities, TCF21 focused particularly on the importance of political will and of good governance as preconditions for success of the investment in the publicly funded SEE6 infrastructure.
The Forum began with the traditional Welcome Address from Mr. Ardian Hackaj, TCF Coordinator and Director of Research at Cooperation and Development Institute.
This year, TCF was addresses by the Prime Minister of Albania H.E. Edi Rama. During his keynote speech, the Prime Minister focused on the support that the EU must provide for the transformation of the Western Balkans. According to him, although the enlargement process will take time, the EU should at least include the Western Balkans in their joint actions.
“I believe Western Balkans must be supported in the process of transformation. The economic plan is one of the most important instruments that the EU has to push transformation forward,” said the Prime Minister Rama. Likewise, the PM also commented on the new Open Balkans initiative, where he explained that this initiative will act as an additional mechanism to improve the capacities “that we have at our disposal so that we can do more in this direction”.
The first panel of this edition “Building Better Balkans Together – the Connectivity Agenda” kicked off with a very high level of speakers in discussing the challenges of implementing connectivity infrastructure projects.
As the EU just ended the Western Balkans Summit in Slovenia, Mr. David McAllister, Member of the European Parliament, Chair of Committee on Foreign Affairs shared the perspective of AFET as well as the European Parliament’s work while it will be represented in the re-organized Western Balkans Investment Framework governance mechanism.
Given the size of the Serbian economy, the country’s budget of public investment, the number and size of ongoing infrastructure projects, and its position as an EU candidate country, Mr. Tomislav Momirovic shared his view on Serbia’s goals and challenges regarding infrastructure development and cooperation with its partners.
Furthermore, Montenegro is a pioneer in Cross-Border cooperation initiatives with its neighbors: only with Albania they’ve recently opened the second joint border-crossing points. On that note, Mr. Mladen Bojanic, focused on the challenges, the advantages and how can this experience be replicated across internal WB6 borders, as well as on the borders of WB6 countries with EU.
Likewise, Kosovo’s access roads to EU and world markets goes through its Western Balkans neighbours – cross-border and regional cooperation factor is obligatory when planning transport and energy infrastructure. In this regard, Mr. Liburn Aliu further explained the integration of Kosovo’s geographical position in connectivity infrastructure planning.
For as most that connectivity and geopolitics are connected, there is a need to further elaborate where the WB6 stand in the larger EU connectivity strategy. As a connoisseur of Western Balkans, Ms. Romana Vlahutin explained the lessons to be drawn from the implementation of EU Connectivity Agenda in Western Balkans that can be transposed on a larger scale. “Connectivity is of prime importance for the region, but also an integral part of the EU comprehensive connectivity agenda,” Ms. Vlahutin said.
The Forum continued with the Talk with the representatives of the three German political foundations Ms. Stine Klapper, Head of Office Friedrich Ebert Foundation Albania (FES), Dr. Tobias Rüttershoff, Head of Albanian Office of Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) and Dr. Klaus Fiesinger, Regional Director for Southeastern Europe of Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSS) and moderated by Mr. Christian Hagemann, Deputy Director, Südosteuropa-Gesellschaft e.V. The aim of this session was to discuss about FES, KAS and HSS support to the Tirana Connectivity Forum since 2015 and the experience from this cooperation for cross-party cooperation in the region.
During this talk, the representatives of FES-KAS-HSS discussed on the role of Germany in the Western Balkans and the added value of their long-term commitment to Tirana Connectivity Forum. During the discussion, the guests discussed also about the future perspective of the Berlin Process under a new German government.
The final panel of this edition focused on the accountability and good governance aspect in the region. The panel took place in a hybrid format with Ms. Sabine Stöhr, Director for the EU Financial Framework and EU Policies at the German Federal Foreign Office, Mr. Maciej Popowski, Acting Director-General – DG NEAR, Mr. Alessandro Bragonzi, Head of EIB regional representation for Western Balkans – joining online and Ms. Ana Krstinovska, President of ESTIMA, North Macedonia and Mr. Peter Grk, Secretary-general of Bled Strategic Forum & National Coordinator for the WBs at the MFA Slovenia being physically present. The panel was moderated by Mr. Ardian Hackaj, Coordinator of Tirana Connectivity Forum
Mr. Popowski focused on how the New Enlargement Methodology (NEM) where the Fundamentals Cluster conditions the rest of chapters, the Economic and Investment Plan, and the IPAIII affects the efficiency and impact of EU financial transfers to WB6, the accountability and finally the application of conditionality principle.
Given the strong engagement of Germany in the region, Ms. Stöhr focused on the practical implications of “increased role of member states” as stated in the New Enlargement Methodology, and on the elements from the Berlin Process that are or can eventually be transposed into the Economic and Investment Plan and IPAIII delivery mechanisms. Ms. Stöhr also added: “Our expectation is that the Civil Society can even more contribute to the planning and the implementation of the EIP projects.”
Furthermore, Mr. Brangonzi discussed about the EIB assessment of the importance of good governance at all project phases (identification – implementation – operation) in the Balkans as well as about some of the instruments that the Bank uses in including the role of local civil society. Mr. Brangonzi also focused on how the eventual impact that the Economic and Investment plan may have on the good governance mechanism of infrastructure financing in the region.
As a representative of the CSO sector, Ms. Krstinovska focused on how WB6 citizen can have their interests promoted and defended in the current situation where they are supposed to be represented (in structures such as WBIF for example) by national institutions debilitated due to “structural weakness”. Mr. Krstinovska highlighted the role of the CSOs as indispensable partner for the EU and the necessity to find the right mechanisms to permanent involvement of CSOs in the Connectivity Agenda.
Concluding the round of discussion in a positive note, Mr. Grk shared his opinion on how the opening statements fit with the conclusions of the Slovenia WB Summit. “The Brdo declaration allows for big things to happen in the future! It paves the way to have this positive pressure from the EU and Civil Society in the region to implement the necessary #reforms in the area of fundamentals,” Grk said. Asked whether if there is space in the remaining time of the Slovenian presidency to take into account eventual recommendations, he added: “EU-WB Summit is the impetus for real work – a start in bringing the region closer to EU integration process and deepen infrastructural, transport & energy connectivity.”
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In case you missed the first day of TCF2021, it is now available on our YouTube channel. Gallery of Day 1 can be viewed here.
