EU Enlargement and the Western Balkans

Current tectonic changes in Europe’s security environment have opened the way for rethinking the EU enlargement process. Western Balkan countries are an immediate neighbour to the EU and their stability is of strategic importance. As their closest EU partner, Croatia strongly advocates for the European path of the Western Balkans countries and is committed to finding solutions to challenges in the accession processes. In this address as part of the IIEA's Future-Proofing Europe project, supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Minister Grlić Radman will tackle some of the focal challenges and questions on EU enlargement, as well as opportunities and possible ways forward. Speaker bio: Gordan Grlić Radman is the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia, a post he has held since July 2019. Additionally, Minister Radman is also the President of the Danube Commission. Prior to his current position, he was Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia to the Federal Republic of Germany from 2017 until 2019 and to Hungary from 2012 until 2017. He has also held a number of high-level roles within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including Head of the Central European Department and Secretary General. Minister Radman holds a PhD from the Faculty of Political Science of the University of Zagreb.