At the Centre for European Perspective (CEP) presentation of the first issue of the new scientific journal European Perspectives, a journal on the European perspective of the Western Balkans, took place. Guest speaker was the author of the introductory paper, former Austrian Vice Chancellor and special Co-ordinator of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, Erhard Busek.
Erhard Busek, also a member of the CEP Advisory Board, expressed his strong support to the publishing of such a journal, especially because of the lack of such a literature in the Western Balkan region. He stressed that after the breakup of Yugoslavia the scientists from the region still find it hard to publish their opinion and therefore turn to the neighbouring countries, which have better scientific network in place. Busek believes the journal especially represents an additional possibility for the experts from the SEE region to be acknowledged also outside the region.
On this occasion Busek also expressed his satisfaction with the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty. In his opinion EU has no more excuses for not continuing with the enlargement, envisaged in Thessaloniki 2003. Institutional limitations were the reason for limited promotion of the integration of the EU candidate and potential candidate countries and now we are looking forward to their improvement with pleasure. Implementation of the Stabilization and Association Agreements and further visa liberalisation are determined steps into this direction, he added.
In his speech Busek touched also his introductory paper entitled Regional Co-operation: A Prelude to Greater European Integration. He emphasized the importance of the regional integration and illustrated it with the case of EU civil crisis management.
Andreja Dolničar Jeraj, CEP Programme Director, emphasized that CEP with its activities supports the countries in the region on their way towards EU and that the new journal, which is issued by CEP, is only one of the forms of such support. She added that the journal represents a part of the Slovenian development cooperation and aid in the region.
The journal and its main objectives were shortly presented by its editor, Milan Jazbec. Scientific Journal aims at promotion of the European perspective of the Western Balkans, which is also an important priority of the Slovenian foreign policy. Journal aims to promote Western Balkan authors, who are very promising experts and would like to win a recognition also outside the region. Furthermore, the journal seeks to draw the attention of the international community to the potentials of the region, which are considerable, added Jazbec.
Scientific contributions, published in the journal European Perspectives, reflect the European integration ambition in its broader sense, with a special reference to the South Eastern Europe. By doing so, it seeks to contribute to further expansion of the academic and practitioners’ network and dialogue as well as the exchange of views among the scientific community within the region and elsewhere. The review would like both to enhance the political and academic interaction and to present an additional tool in the decision-making process for the political elites.
The Journal will be published twice a year in English. It is also available in the electronic form at www.europeanperspectives.si.
