Beyond the Wall: Opening address by Joachim Bitterlich

First of all a warm welcome to this conference on behalf of Jacques Delors, our founder and honorary President, unfortunately prevented from being here, and on behalf of the whole team of Notre Europe.

In the first months of 2009, Notre Europe decided to open a research field on the Western Balkans – a region which constitutes the new “Frontier” of the European project. Indeed the concretization of the European vocation of this region is one of the main challenges lying ahead of the EU in the years to come. This new field of research for Notre Europe carries on from an initial exploration conducted in Serbia by research fellow Aziliz Gouez within the scope of her “European Works” project.

Now, why did we choose to organise today’s conference in Belgrade?