The State of Play: Democracy, Human Rights and the EU Integration in today's Western Balkans

On Wednesday, 18 January 2017 at the Institute for European Studies, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University took place the guest lecture 'The State of Play: Democracy, Human Rights and the EU Integration in today's Western Balkans''  by Adriano Remiddi,  Institute for Central Eastern and Balkan Europe-University of Bologna.

The lecturer provided an introductory  historical, geographical and social contextualization of the SEE region, then focused on the explanation of the historical debate over the legacy of the partition, occupation and/or colonization, the cultural stratification, the role of the ethnicity in shaping the nationhood, as well as the failed and successful regionalist projects, including the pivotal role played by the rise and fall of the socialist federal Yugoslavia, followed by the process of post-socialist transition and europeanization. In the second part, Remiddi analyzed the most pressing contemporary challenges to human rights and democracy in the region among which the post-conflict reconciliation, the respect of political and civic rights and the growing demands for prioritizing the economic social and cultural ones. Finally, the lecturer mentioned the future perspectives of the Western Balkans with respect to the rising of third external actors and the threats to the European integration process. Also, the lecture represented the opportunity to present the Global Campus of Human Rights in its mission and scopes. 

Adriano Remiddi is graduate research assistant at the Institute for Central Eastern and Balkan Europe, and Coordinator of the academic and development unit of the European Regional Master's Programme in Human Rights and Democracy in South East Europe (University of Bologna and University of Sarajevo). From the a.y. 2014/15, he coordinates the Central European Initiative International Summer Schools (21st, 22nd and 23rd editions). Previously he worked as assistant to the director at the Center for Constitutional Studies and Democratic Development, Johns Hopkins University SAIS Europe. Mr. Remiddi published academic papers for 'Balkan Social Science Review' and 'PECOB/University of Bologna', also he wrote analyses for 'LIMES-Italian Review of Geopolitics' (Rome) and 'Foreign Affairs Portal' (Warsaw). Mr. Remiddi's expertise is on post-socialist transition and European integration in CEE and SEE; regional cooperation; democracy and human rights; migration and diaspora studies. 

The lecture was made possible thanks to the kind cooperation between ERMA, the Center for European Studies at Yerevan State University and the Institute for European Studies, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University in the framework of the Global Campus of Human Rights.