European Cultural Foundation (ECF) Conference
1 December 2005
The Hague (NL)

The future of the Balkans and the role that culture can play in their European integration will top the agenda of this conference in The Hague (Peace Palace) on 1 December 2005. Click here to read the reports of the two ECF Reflection Groups on the Balkans, five essays commissioned for the event as well as a survey on funding opportunities in and with South East Europe.

The half-day event will be attended by over a hundred leading politicians, artists and commentators from the Balkans and the EU, including Dutch Foreign Minister Ben Bot, Ambassador Wolfgang Petritsch, former UN High Representative to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Goran Svilanovic, Chair of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe. There will be panel discussions and interview sessions involving Dutch writers Manon Uphoff and Ronald Giphart and Balkan artists Sejla Kameric and Erzen Shkololli. The event will also mark the launch of an Incentive Fund to provide immediate support for pilot projects which facilitate the Balkans’ EU integration.

This conference will provide a much-needed cultural perspective on the current political debates surrounding the Balkans. It coincides with major developments in the region, including the opening of Stabilisation and Association Agreement talks with Bosnia and Herzegovina, negotiations on the status of Kosovo and Montenegro, a decision on the start-date of entry talks with Macedonia, and accession talks with Croatia. The International Commission on the Balkans will present its recent findings on the region’s current and future challenges.

For more info:
http://www.eurocult.org/pdfdb/freeimage/progbalkan24nov.pdf