Ambassador Garčević hosts “What does Trump’s Return Mean for the Balkans?” Panel
Ambassador Vesko Garcević, Professor at Boston University’s Pardee School of Global Studies, participated in the fifth annual IEMS winter seminar on security and diplomacy centered on the Eastern Mediterranean at a time of geopolitical and economic grand realignment. The event is organized by the Institute of East Mediterranean Studies – Emmanuel College in partnership with the American University of Beirut, The American College of Greece, South East European Studies of Oxford, the University of Nicosia, and the Institute of Global Affairs This year the IEMS Seminar examined the role of diplomacy and the growing insecurity for the race for resources in the sensitive and central region of the Eastern Mediterranean.
On March 5, Ambassador Garčević organized and hosted the panel discussion What does Trump’s Return Mean for the Balkans? The panel featured Ambassador Rod Moore, the former US diplomat and Deputy High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ambassador Romana Vlahutin, the former European Union (EU) Ambassador in Albania, and Ambassador Nebojsa Kaludjerović, the former Minister of foreign affairs of Montenegro.
In a thought-provoking discussion, the panelists addressed a potential US policy towards the region from three perspectives: the US, the EU, and the regional perspective. The discussants pointed out that with the new American administration, the US will likely abandon the well-known policy towards European partners, including supporting EU enlargement. As they agreed, the Balkans would not take a high place in a highly transactional and opportunist foreign policy agenda that the new US administration would likely pursue. Yet, the ongoing rift between the US and the EU and discussion over the future of Ukraine may speed up EU enlargement, with Montenegro and Albania having a better chance to join the EU by 2030.
Ambassador Vesko Garčević dealt with issues pertinent to European security and NATO for almost 14 years during his diplomatic career. In 2004, he was posted in Vienna to serve as Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He was Montenegro’s Ambassador to NATO from 2010 until 2014 and served as Montenegro’s National Coordinator for NATO from 2015 until he joined the faculty at the Pardee School. Learn more about Ambassador Garčević on his faculty profile.