The Roundtable titled: "The European Union’s next enlargement: prospects and pitfalls” was organised by Elcano Royal Institute, Bled Strategic Forum (BSF), Embassy of Slovenia in Spain and Fundación Carlos de Amberes on the 19 November, 2021.

The event was a Hybrid one, on-site participants were invited while for the live stream on YouTube, on-line attendance registration was not required.
The event was held in English without simultaneous translation.

In the context of the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU, the purpose of this event is to discuss the prospect of the Balkan countries to join the EU. This event includes the participation of government officials who are responsible for the European integration policy of Spain, Slovenia and several candidate countries, as well as academic experts in the field.

Agenda of the Roundtable:

9:30 Greetings and introductory remarks:

Miguel Ángel Aguilar, President, Fundación Carlos de Amberes
Charles Powell, Director, Elcano Royal Institute | @CharlesTPowell
Robert Krmelj, Ambassador of Slovenia to Spain
Maciej Popowski, Acting Director-General at the Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, European Commission

9:45 to 10:45: First Session - Presidency European Union enlargement under the Slovenian presidency and beyond

Juan González-Barba, State Secretary for the European Union, Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, EU and Cooperation of Spain | @JuanGBarba
Gašper Dovžan, State Secretary, Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia
Nikola Dimitrov, Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs of the Republic of North Macedonia | @NDimitrovMK
Jadranka Joksimović, Minister of European Integration of the Republic of Serbia
Megi Fino, Deputy Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs at Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Albania | @MegiFi
Ljubomir Mišurović, State Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro
Moderator: Charles Powell, Director, Elcano Royal Institute | @CharlesTPowell

10:45 to 11:45: Second Session - The EU’s daunting enlargement dilemmas

Florian Bieber, Coordinator, Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group | @fbieber
Ivan Vejvoda, Acting Rector, Institute for Human Sciences | @IVejvoda
Vesko Garcevic, Professor, Boston University; former ambassador of Montenegro to NATO | @VeskoGarcevic
Peter Grk, Secretary General of Bled Strategic Forum
Ruth Ferrero, professor, Universidad Complutense de Madrid | @RFT2
Moderator: María Solanas, Director of Programmes, Elcano Royal Institute | María_SolanasC

11:50 Closing remarks by Charles Powell, Director, Elcano Royal Institute