After last week’s Sofia-held forum dedicated to the Western Balkans’ integration and supported by the World Bank, the future of the Balkans and especially the place of the Western states within the Balkan Peninsula is still a priority topic for the public agenda. On December 9 – 10 the capital hosted an international scientific conference subjected Bulgaria between the Western Balkans and the Black Sea – History and Geopolitics. It was organized by the New Direction Foundation, the Macedonian Scientific Institute and the Institute for History Research with the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

The conference was unveiled by a hailing speech of Deputy PM and Defense Minister Krasimir Karakachanov: “Once again media today focus on the conflict between Israel and Palestine. This of course is important, but we live in a region which has enough problems that are none the less serious. The perspective of eventual external factors that might be funded or pushed by one or another factor on the Balkans could result in a situation that is far more unpleasant than the one in the Middle East. That is why Bulgaria cannot be a side observer only,” Minister Karakachanov warned. In his words it is important to keep good neighboring relations with the other countries in the region and also to take care of the Bulgarian communities there.

Ivan Nikolov from the Bulgarian Cultural and Information Center in Bosilegrad, Serbia and Ukrainian MP Anton Kisse had been invited as representatives of the Bulgarian minorities abroad. The ambassadors of Albania, Azerbaijan and Ukraine were guests of the event alongside diplomats from Armenia and Kazakhstan.

A total of 15 reports were read over the two days of the forum, viewing different historical, political and geopolitical aspects and issues in the region of the Balkans and the Black Sea. An accent was placed on development opportunities and the integration of the states from the so-called Western Balkans in the EU, as well as on the European perspectives of Macedonia, Albania and Kosovo.

In the words of MP Angel Djambazki today we witness “the most important events of our history as of at least one century. Our relations with the Republic of Macedonia and with the Republic of Albania are very important. Their EU accession is obligatory for the stability of the Balkans.”

The subject for the Atlantic integration of the Black Sea region found its place in the presentation of Bulgarian diplomat Lyubcho Troharov. The migration processes in the Balkans and their role for regional security, ethno-demographic processes in West Macedonia in the end of the 19^th and the start of the 20^th century, the Good Neighboring Treaty between Bulgaria and Macedonia and its impact on the development of cross-border cooperation – these are some of the problems, tackled by the scientific reports.

On the second day of the international conference the focus was on the Balkan transport corridors, their building and funding, the geopolitical aspects of the projects, the cross-border cooperation and the place of the Balkans within European security. The transport connectivity of the region is a subject, placed on the negotiation table for many years with no visible practical result. However, today its dimensions have been getting bigger and bigger at the existence of clear and concrete political engagements, declared over the past week in Sofia by the leaders of the Balkan countries, as well as due to the readiness of the World Bank to fund transport and commerce in the region with USD 150 – 200 million.

As Bulgaria has repeatedly declared now its determination to uphold the European integration of the Western Balkan countries during its 2018 Presidency of the Council of the EU, we can expect new positive decisions and actions over the next months, implementing the recommendations of the scientific community within these reports.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev