The CEU Center for European Neighborhood Studies (CENS), a member ofthe MIGRATE: CTRL + EnterEurope Jean Monnet Migrant Crisis Network

 Cordially invites you to the conference

From “Crisis” to Challenges of Integration: The Current State of the Balkan Migration Route

CTRL +Enter Europe partner institutions are working towards tackling the question ‘To what extent can further EU integration and enlargement offer a viable solution to the migrant crisis?’. The rationale behind the CTRL +Enter Europe project is that present day EU policy in tackling the migrant crisis is lacking in cohesion, focus and long term strategy. It is suggested that further EU integration and enlargement, in order to include the Western Balkans and Turkey, might be key to controlling migrants’ influx in the Union. A network of researchers from all the main transit and destination countries of the Balkan corridor are looking at the specific characteristics of the migrant crisis experienced by different countries with different political economies, different relations to the EU, and different levels of exposure to the current crises. All the above within the framework of the effectiveness of EU enlargement and integration. The ultimate goal of this network is not to propose a ‘closed’ Europe, but rather to discuss possible ways of handling this humanitarian crisis while easing the burden off the transit and destination countries during a time of multiple crises. It focuses on the ‘Balkan human corridor’ stretching from Turkey as the entry point, on to Greece, FYROM, Serbia, Hungary, Germany and Austria. This Conference marks the launch of the network.

Program:

8:30 Registration

9:00 Opening remarks

• Péter Balázs, Director, CEU Center for European Neighborhood Studies
• Alexandra Prodromidou, MIGRATE Academic Coordinator, South-East European Project Center

9:20 Panel I: The Refugee Issue after the Closing of the „Balkan Route”

• Dimitris Tsarouhas, Associate Professor, Department of International Relations, Bilkent University
• Pavlos Gkasis, South-East European Project Center
• Zoran Ilievski, University of Cyril and Methodius
• Jovan Teokarevic, Professor,  Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Belgrade

Moderator: AlHakam Shaar, Fellow, Shattuck Center on Negotiation and Recovery

11:00 Coffee break

11:10 Panel II:Destination Countries on the Migration Crisis

• Marko Kmezic, Lecturer, Senior Researcher, University of Graz
• Christina Krause (tbc), Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Germany
• Francesca Strumia, Lecturer in Law, University of Sheffield

Moderator: Dimitris Keridis, Director, Navarino Network

12:50 Buffet lunch

14:00 Panel III: Hungarian Policymakers on the Refugee Issue

• Tamás Csiki,  Assistant Research Fellow, Center for Strategic and Defense Studies National University of Public Service
• Aranka Lőrincz, Appointed Director for Refugee Affairs, Office of Immigration and Nationality
• Balázs Orbán, Director General, Migration Research Institute

Moderator: Péter Balázs, Director, CENS

15:40 Coffee break

15:50 Panel IV: Civil Society, the Migration Crisis and the Challenge of Integration

• András Kováts, Menedék – Hungarian Association for Migrants
• Prem Kumar Rajaram, CEU OLIve – The Open Learning Initiative
• Salome Schaerer, Felix Bender, MIGSZOL
• Eszter Kósa, SOS Children's Villages International, Hungary

Moderator: Bogdan Mihail Radu, Visiting Researcher, CENS

17:20 Closing Remarks

Register at szalaia@ceu.edu

The event will be livestreamed https://videosquare.ceu.edu/en/live