(ANSA) - TRIESTE - In preparation for the Western Balkans summit which will be held in Trieste on July 12, the regional capital will host the second edition of the Reflection Forum on 26 and 27 June. Representatives of the institutions, experts on European integration and the Western Balkans, university researchers will be the protagonists of an interactive exchange of views on the main challenges that European Enlargement Policy is facing. Key themes of the event will be regional cooperation, resumption of tensions in the Western Balkans and their consequences for the EU, security management and gender opportunities. The event is organized by the Institute of International Affairs (IAI), Centre international de formation européenne (CIFE) and the Austro-French Center for rapprochement in Europe (CFA/ÖFZ), with the support of the Central European Initiative (CEI). On June 26, after a 'prelude' at the Mib, the Forum will be officially opened at 6pm at the Palazzo della Regione (Region's Headquarters) by the president of the Autonomous Region Friuli Venezia Giulia, Debora Serracchiani.

After this opening, speeches will be given by the CEI Deputy Secretary General, Margot Klestil-Löffler, Slovenian MEP Tanya Fanjon, chairman of the Institute of International Affairs (IAI), Ferdinando Nelli Feroci, and Ambassador Michele Giacomelli, special envoy of the Foreign Ministry. The next day, thematic sessions will develop at the CEI headquarters. The forum is part of the so-called Berlin Process, aimed at improving regional co-operation in the Western Balkans through a process of rapprochement and stabilization of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, Macedonia and Serbia.

(ANSA).