Sustainable policy and media freedom are central on way to EU - Media Programme Southeast Europe
Event Reports
The EU and its enlargement are complex issues – both for journalists and the media audience. Therefore, the KAS Media Program South East Europe invites editors to an information seminar once a year. The main speaker is Hans-Joachim Falenski, foreign policy advisor of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the German Bundestag. High-ranking politicians and analysts from South East Europe also explain the accession perspectives of the Balkan countries.
Hellmut Hoffmann, German Ambassador in Tirana, opened this year's "EU seminar" for policy editors, which took place in Durrës, Albania from 4th to 6th September. Shortly after the Western Balkans conference in Berlin, he pointed out the previous active role of Germany and its future responsibility for the EU integration of South East Europe. All countries of the Western Balkans have a membership perspective, if they fulfill the requirements of the EU, says Hoffmann to the journalists from Albania, Kosovo and Serbia, as well as to two media representatives from Bulgaria.
CDU expert Hans-Joachim Falenski also reaffirms Germany's willingness for further expansion of the EU. He underlined that compliance of the common standards would be examined more closely for new EU candidates than it was before. An example is the sustainability in the administration: It is not permissible that after a change of government, most of the officials are being replaced – down to the lowest ranked. This is contrary to the democratic standards, and leads to the loss of valuable knowledge that has been mediated with Western help.
