‘Friends of the Western Balkans – Pristina’ Flickr album

Photo album of the ‘Friends of the Western Balkans‘ expert meeting in Pristina, Kosovo.

2024 brings crucial elections in the US, UK, and EU, with over 400 million voters, to name a view. This massive election year comes amid rising extremism and calls for EU reforms. For this reason, an open discussion on the upcoming European elections and on the interplay between the latter and the process of enlargement is crucial.

Therefore, the network Friends of the Western Balkans (FoWB), comprising members of European national parliaments and members of the European Parliament, established by FEPS with the support of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Dialogue Southeast Europe, Renner Institut, Masarykova demokratická akademie, Kalevi Sorsa Foundation, Fondation Jean- Jaurès, Foundation Max van der Stoel, Društvo Progresiva and Olof Palme International Center, is gathering for its fifth meeting. The network meets to reflect on labour migration between the region (Western Balkans) and Europe and within the region. This is a phenomenon – the so-called ‘brain drain’ – that affects the whole region and whose long- term consequences may also be observed in the democratic institutions and processes.