TWO DECADES LATER
On October 13, 2020, as part of the celebration of the twentieth anniversary of the Igman Initiative and two decades since the beginning of the normalization of relations between the so-called Dayton Four, the Igman Initiative organized a zoom conference called TWO DECADES LATER which had over 60 participants. The conference was supported by the European Fund for the Balkans Foundation.
The first part of the conference presented the EU Economic and Investment Plan for the Western Balkans and discussed the possible implications of its implementation to improve the economies of countries in this region threatened by the COVID 19 pandemic, as well as overall relations in the region. Through a video, Olivér Várhely, Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement, presented the plan, and Susanne Schütz, Director for Southeast Europe, Turkey and EFTA countries at the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, explained the implications of the plan to bring the region closer to the EU. Mrs Schütz also discussed the German presidency of the EU, as well as the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina a quarter of a century after the conclusion of the Dayton Agreement.
Former heads of state and government of the Dayton Four, who at that time also participated in the sessions of the Igman Initiative, spoke within the so-called presidential panel. The presidential panel included Stjepan Mesić, President of the Republic of Croatia 2000-2010, Mladen Ivanić, Chairman of the Presidency of BiH 2015 – 2017, Filip Vujanović, President of Montenegro 2003-2018, Boris Tadić, President of the Republic of Serbia 2004 – 2012, as well as Mirko Cvetković, Prime Minister of Serbia 2008 – 2012. They referred to the past two decades since the beginning of the normalization of relations between the four countries that signed the Dayton Agreement, as well as to the challenges facing the region in the time ahead.
In the continuation of the conference, Dragan Đukanović, professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade, presented an expert report on two decades since the beginning of normalization of relations between the Dayton Four, as well as recommendations related to the European Union, ruling regimes in four countries and civil society organizations in the region.
The conference ended with a summary of its results by Aleksandra Tomanić, director of the European Fund for the Balkans, and Aleksandar Popov, the director of the Center for Regionalism.