{"id":13264,"date":"2021-11-16T15:07:38","date_gmt":"2021-11-16T15:07:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/idscs.org.mk\/en\/?p=13264"},"modified":"2022-07-27T13:10:37","modified_gmt":"2022-07-27T13:10:37","slug":"ifat-and-idscs-co-organised-a-study-visit-in-budapest-part-of-the-think-balkans-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/idscs.org.mk\/en\/2021\/11\/16\/ifat-and-idscs-co-organised-a-study-visit-in-budapest-part-of-the-think-balkans-project\/","title":{"rendered":"IFAT and IDSCS co-organised a study visit in Budapest, part of the Think Balkans project"},"content":{"rendered":"

As part of the \u2018Cooperation Instrument for the Western Balkans Think Tanks \u2013 THINK BALKANS\u2019 project, between 8 and 12 November in Budapest, IFAT \u2013 Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade and IDSCS – Institute for Democracy \u201cSocietas Civilis\u201c coordinated the second on-site study visit by the Western Balkans (WB6) researchers to the Visegrad Group (V4) capitals.<\/p>\n

Researchers from North Macedonia (IDSCS) and Kosovo* (CiviKos) together with their local V4 think tank host IFAT attended meetings with representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary (MFAs), Think Visegrad representatives and members of the Parliament.<\/p>\n

In Budapest, Anamarija Velinovska, Junior Researcher at IDSCS, Simona Atanasova, Communication officer at IDSCS and Donika Emini, Executive Director of CiviKos Platform were hosted by Julianna \u00c1rm\u00e1s and Ferenc N\u00e9meth, Research Fellows at IFAT.<\/p>\n

The study visit was an opportunity for the WB6 researchers to learn from the experience of the Think Visegrad platform and to see it implemented in place.<\/p>\n

During the meetings, the participants and hosts of the study visit presented the goals, deliverables, and upcoming activities of the Think Balkans project and called for future political and financial support through International Visegrad Fund and Western Balkans Fund, necessary for the official establishment of the permanent mechanism for cooperation between WB6 expert community and WB6 MFAs.<\/p>\n

The researchers discussed\u00a0the relations between the civil society and the institutions within the Think Visegrad platform with MFAs representatives including L\u00e1szl\u00f3 Sinka, Head of the Department for European Enlargement, Istv\u00e1n Pokor\u00e1di, Advisor at the Department for Strategic Planning and Analysis, Andr\u00e1s L\u00e1z\u00e1r, V4 National Coordinator, at Secretariat of the Ministeria Commissioner for the Presidency of the Visegrad Cooperation and N\u00f3ra Kert\u00e9sz, Desk Officer for V4 and Visegrad Fund at the Secretariat of the Ministerial Commissioner for the Presidency of the Visegrad Cooperation and Pre-Accession. At the Hungarian Parliament the researchers met with Zsolt Csenger-Zal\u00e1n, member of the parliament and Vice-Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the researchers had the opportunity to discuss the Think Balkans mechanism in details with the representatives of the think tanks that are part of the Think Visegrad platform. The researchers met with M\u00e1rton Ugr\u00f3sdy, Director of the Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade and D\u00e1niel Bartha, President of the Board of Trustees, Centre for Euro-Atlantic Integration and Democracy.<\/p>\n

This study visit was the second of the four study visits in the Visegrad Group capitals. The first on-site study visit was held in Prague between 2 and 6 November and the WB6 researchers are expected to attend study visits in Bratislava (29 November \u2013 03 December) and Warsaw (13-17 December).<\/p>\n

This project is financially supported by the\u00a0International Visegrad Fund<\/a>\u00a0and implemented by IDSCS in coordination with the partners\u00a0European Movement in Serbia (EMinS)<\/a>,\u00a0Platforma CiviKos<\/a>\u00a0from Kosovo*,\u00a0Politikon Network<\/a>\u00a0from Montenegro,\u00a0Albanian Institute for International Studies (AIIS)<\/a>\u00a0from Albania,\u00a0Humanity in Action<\/a>\u00a0from Bosnia and Herzegovina,\u00a0Centre for European Perspective (CEP)<\/a>\u00a0from Slovenia,\u00a0Centre for Eastern Studies from Poland (OSW)<\/a>,\u00a0Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade from Hungary (IFAT)<\/a>, the\u00a0Research Centre of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association (RC SFPA)<\/a>\u00a0from Slovakia, and\u00a0EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy (EUROPEUM)<\/a>\u00a0from the Czech Republic.<\/p>\n

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*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status and is in line with UN Security Council resolution 1244 and the International Court of Justice Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.<\/p>\n