We all know that the Slovenian presidency of the EU is just around the corner and the politics of the Western Balkans will be one of the focal points of the Slovenian presidency, just as it has been in the German presidency and in the Croatian presidency before that. 

For many years now, an old saying could be used to describe the situations, events and processes in the WB6 states: there is nothing new on the horizon, nothing that was not already seen and nothing that will not occur again in the future. This is a bit unfortunate, for the population of these states, as well as their neighbours, those near and further away.

Serbia is, without any doubt, a state that holds the keys to stability and security in the entire WB6 area, directly or indirectly. Serbia, which can be seen from the so-called “Mini Schengen” agreement, can and should be the driver of positive economic and integration processes which must lead to an economic, and consequently political and cultural stabilization of WB6 area. Serbia, especially with respect to BiH, should learn from the examples of disintegration of the SFRY and other multinational socialist communities that have not resolved the accumulated problems associated with the various national entities living on their territory.

Kosovo needs to learn from the experiences of others. Both the good and the bad, positive and negative. Kosovo is currently burdened with numerous and serious challenges that hinder the development of democratic institutions and processes, something that significantly affects all the domains of people's lives. Kosovo is in a very demanding economic, social, financial, security and political situation.

The social contacts we make day in and day out through virtual communication and networking are just a substitute for what we really need. If we go through all the influences that we experienced as an individual and society throughout history, from natural, demographic, economic, political, socio-cultural, the importance of human-to-human behaviour is the most pronounced success that we as a society can wish and welcome. 

Encouraging open and honest conversations with as many stakeholders as possible creates the basis for seeking answers to the goals. In this sense, we sought answers from relevant and credible speakers who can offer us a framework for a clearer view of the truth about the processes affecting events in the Western Balkans. 

European decision makers and societies are well aware that if the WB6 region was left without proper engagement, the ensuing political void would attract other actors. It is in the interest of the European Union, therefore, to create a proactive environment which will deal with developments in these countries that would otherwise give rise to and increase this political void.

Montenegro is, and this has been evident for many years, a deeply divided society. Such a society can hardly build a political and social community and state institutions, which can, and should be, effective in fulfilling the fundamental interests of the individuals and communities that can build up functional society and state. The impossibility to function as it should be, or the slow development of the state, creates dissatisfaction among those who are actively trying to build a state as well as among those who oppose it because they think that state is developing in the wrong direction.

For years we can see that different attackers are using hybrid attacks while trying to achieve different goals: political, economic, security, military, cultural, social…. Hybrid attacker is trying to achieve a state of information supremacy by influencing the decision-making process of the target audience: in order to control communication channels as well as the information content that is moving through those channels.

Following the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreements, which ended the war at the end of 1995 and imposed peace in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Bosnia and Herzegovina is still far from political, social, national and economic stability. The Bosnia and Herzegovina pluralistic society does not share a common vision of political unity, which hinders the establishment of a political community.

The social contacts we make day in and day out through virtual communication and networking are just a substitute for what we really need. If we go through all the influences that we experienced as an individual and society throughout history, from natural, demographic, economic, political, socio-cultural, the importance of human-to-human behaviour is the most pronounced success that we as a society can wish and welcome. 

The area of the Western Balkans has been, is and very likely will be a source of serious security challenges for many years that will come (political, economic, social, security, religious, ethnic ...). These challenges pose a serious problem both for those countries, for their immediate neighbourhood and for Europe as a whole.

European decision makers and societies are well aware that if the WB6 region was left without proper engagement, the ensuing political void would attract other actors. It is in the interest of the European Union, therefore, to create a proactive environment which will deal with developments in these countries that would otherwise give rise to and increase this political void.