IDM Director at the Western Balkans Fellowship Programme Jubilee Event in the Austrian Parliament

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©️ Buchner/Parlamentsdirektion

The Austrian Parliament hosted the Jubilee Event of the Western Balkans Fellowship Programme, bringing together current fellows, programme alumni, mentors, policy experts, and parliamentary representatives from across the region. The gathering, supported by the European Fund for the Balkans and ERSTE Foundation, highlighted the programme’s long-standing contribution to regional cooperation and administrative capacity-building. 

Sebastian Schäffer, Director of the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe (IDM), took part in the opening panel discussions, stressing the importance of credible EU integration prospects and the need to deepen institutional exchange, both between the Western Balkans and EU member states, and equally among the Western Balkan countries themselves. Strengthening these connections remains essential for building trust, improving governance, and advancing reforms. 

A central part of the debate focused on the state of EU enlargement. During the exchange, Schäffer responded to a comparison that described integration as a moving train: 

“This is a fitting metaphor – but we are trying to add new cars while some are on fire, we are going full speed, and some valves are blocked. We should have used the time when it was going steady without much external problems. So now we all need to work together.” 

The remark captured the urgency felt across the programme participants: enlargement requires readiness on both sides, and delaying internal reforms only makes the process more challenging. 

With representatives of the Western Balkans Fellowship Programme, parliamentary stakeholders, and regional experts all present, the event once again demonstrated how crucial sustained engagement, institutional cooperation, and political will remain for moving the Western Balkans closer to the European Union. 

The IDM is committed to supporting initiatives that foster meaningful dialogue, strengthen regional ties, and contribute to a stable and integrated Europe like the Western Balkans Fellowship Programme and thankful for the invitation to contribute to the Jubilee Event.