The 14th Dubrovnik Forum international conference was held on Saturday under the heading “(Post)-Pandemic Geopolitics – Together in a World Apart”.
Keynote addressed were delivered by Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, High EU Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell Fontelles and Croatian Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković.
The panel discussions saw numerous distinguished guests, including EC Vice-President Dubravka Šuica, CoE Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić, EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-?Pristina Dialogue and other Western Balkan regional issues Miroslav Lajčak, new High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina Christian Schmidt, U. S. Special Representative for the Western Balkans Matthew Palmer and ten foreign ministers.
The discussions focused on topics such as the impact of the pandemic on geopolitics and global economy, the importance of strengthening multilateralism in international relations, the prospects for political and economic progress of the Western Balkan countries, as well as the role of the EU, Three Seas Initiative and 17+China in reducing the gulf between the Western and Eastern Europe.
Plenković underscored that Croatia was close to achieving its foreign policy goals – joining the Schengen Area, eurozone and MED7. He reiterated Croatia’s support for the European journey of the Western Balkan countries and stressed the importance of Bosnia and Herzegovina, calling it Croatia’s most important neighbour historically, geographically and culturally.
Borrell warned of the dangers of relaxing too fast due to improved epidemiological situation in Europe, underscoring that the end of the pandemic was in sight, but that new COVID-19 variants were looming. He emphasized the importance of vaccination, adding that the EU was the only region in the world that had vaccinated its population while simultaneously exporting vaccines to other countries and donating through COVAX.
Addressing the conference, Jandroković said that the pandemic would change the world forever and that there would be no going back to the old way of life, underscoring the need for cooperation, solidarity and unity more than ever.
In his address, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlić Radman also called for unity and the strengthening of multilateralism, stressing that the best results are achieved by those who invest effort into creating synergy and bridging differences.