On 27 and 28 June the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP) organised a conference titled “Moving the Western Balkans towards European foreign and security policy” supported by the EU’s Technical Assistance to Civil Society Organisations project, TACSO 3. The event marked 25 years of BCSP’s work and provided an opportunity to consolidate long-standing partnerships between BCSP and other Western Balkans think-tanks specialising in security policy within the Balkan Security Platform.

The conference brought together members of civil society from the region along with EU and world experts on foreign and security policy. It was attended by 76 participants in person and 17 via Zoom.

After the public event, members of the Balkan Security Platform continued with sessions dedicated to developing a joint advocacy plan for engaging EU audiences on foreign and security issues related to the Western Balkans and the Balkan Security Platform’s joint strategic plan for further cooperation on regional security issues.  An International Advisory Committee was formed, consisting of 16 internationally-recognised researchers, professors, representatives of the think-tank community, former officials, and experts in international relations, defence, security and the rule of law.