Starting from this year (2024), WestBalkanNet (WBN) has become the official partner of the Cetinje Forum, one of the most significant regional initiatives dedicated to strengthening dialogue, democratization, and Euro-Atlantic integration in the Western Balkans. Through this partnership, WBN will actively contribute to the forum’s work through analytical, strategic, and political initiatives aimed at stability and cooperation in the region.
Cetinje Forum – A Platform for Dialogue and the European Future of the Balkans
The Cetinje Forum is a regional platform for open dialogue between political representatives, the academic community, civil society, and international partners. The forum brings together prominent figures from the region and Europe, with key topics including democratization, the rule of law, reconciliation, and European integration. Through panels, debates, and expert discussions, the Cetinje Forum aims to shape sustainable policies and concrete recommendations to improve political and social processes in the countries of the Western Balkans.
The organizers of the Cetinje Forum are the Faculty of Montenegrin Language and Literature and the Montenegrin PEN Center, while alongside WBN, partners also include the Faculty of Political Sciences at the University of Sarajevo and the Academy for Democratic Development from Novi Sad.
The Third Cetinje Forum Supported by the Western Balkans Fund
This year’s, Third Cetinje Forum is funded by the Western Balkans Fund (WBF), an organization that supports regional initiatives focused on cooperation, development, and the European perspective of the Balkans. Thanks to this support, the forum will further strengthen its mission of connecting key stakeholders and promoting common solutions to the challenges faced by the countries in the region.
The partnership between WBN and the Cetinje Forum represents a significant step forward in strengthening expert and political dialogue, reaffirming the importance of regional cooperation for the stability and European future of the Western Balkans.
Third Cetinje Forum Held on the Theme “Sharp and Soft Power in the Western Balkans: Democracy, Education, Security”
The Third Cetinje Forum, held from April 22 to 24, 2024, brought together intellectuals, politicians, academics, journalists, and activists from the region and beyond to discuss pressing social and strategic issues concerning Montenegro and the Western Balkans. The forum focused on the theme “Sharp and Soft Power in the Western Balkans: Democracy, Education, Security”, with the goal of fostering better connections and exchanging ideas on the challenges facing the region in the context of European integration, Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, the war in Gaza, and global political and security challenges.
The purpose of the forum, as stated by the organizers, is to serve as a platform for promoting social dialogue on topics such as media manipulation and disinformation, labeling and targeting of civic activism, models of political instrumentalization of religious organizations, and other similar issues that burden Montenegrin society and the region.
The forum’s program was organized into nine panels, with participants being prominent experts and leaders from various fields, including Tomáš Petříček (Prague), Vesna Pusić (Zagreb), Roman Jakič (Ljubljana), Ahmet Shala (Pristina), Dinko Gruhonjić (Novi Sad), Fatmir Mediu (Tirana), Jasmin Mujanović (Los Angeles), Siniša Vuković (Washington), Josip Juratović (Berlin), Federica Woelk (Brussels), Sead Turčalo (Sarajevo), Jakub Klepal (Prague), Olivera Komar (Podgorica), Janusz Bugajski (Washington), Jakub Landovský (Brussels), Edina Bećirević (Sarajevo), Robert Barić (Zagreb), Balša Božović (Novi Sad), Adelheid Wölfl (Vienna), Avdullah Hoti (Pristina), Daliborka Uljarević (Podgorica), Nemanja Batrićević (Podgorica), Ivana Stradner (Washington), Aleksej Kišjuhas (Novi Sad), Andrej Nikolaidis (Ulcinj), Aleksandra Đurić-Bosnić (Novi Sad), Janko Ljumović (Cetinje), Tomislav Marković (Belgrade), Sonja Biserko (Belgrade), Jovan Ulićević (Podgorica), and many others.
