Budapest Balkans Forum 2026 - 2nd Day (March 10, 2026)

Описание: 9:50 – 10:00
Welcoming remarks

Ákos Mernyei (Director of External Relations, Hungarian Institute of International Affairs)
Zsolt Bunford (Special Envoy of the Prime Minister of Hungary for the Western Balkans)

10:00 – 10:15
Keynote speech

János Bóka (Minister for European Union Affairs of Hungary)

10:15 – 11:15
Ministerial Roundtable
Walking the Walk: Enlargement and the Western Balkans

János Bóka (Minister for European Union Affairs, Hungary)
Nemanja Starović (Minister of European Integration, Republic of Serbia)
Megi Fino (Deputy Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs, Republic of Albania)
Predrag Zenović (Chief Negotiator for Montenegro with the European Union, Montenegro)
Moderator: Ákos Mernyei (Director of External Relations, Hungarian Institute of International Affairs)

11:15 – 11:45
Coffee break

11:45 – 12:45
High level panel discussion
Building a Stable and Secure Region through Strategic Connectivity

Péter Holicza (Deputy State Secretary for European Union Affairs and International Relations, Ministry of Energy of Hungary)
Amer Kapetanović (Secretary General, Regional Cooperation Council, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
-Andor Deli (Ministerial Commissioner responsible for tasks facilitating the implementation of European connectivity, Ministry of European Union Affairs of Hungary)
Ana Trišić-Babić (former acting president of the Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Moderator: Miša Đurković (Head of the MCC-MKI Center for Geopolitics, Mathias Corvinus Collegium-Hungarian Institute of International Affairs)

12:45 – 14:00
Lunch break

14:00 – 15:00
High level panel discussion
Family, Migration and the Paths to a Resilient Future

Radovan Kovačević (Delegate to the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Edith Harxhi (Executive Director of the Albanian Policy Center)
Predrag Rajic (State Secretary at the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, Republic of Serbia)
Zoltán Kovács (Secretary of State for International Communication and Relations of Hungary)
Annamária Vicsek (Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians, Deputy President, MEP)
Moderator: Lilla Kakuk (Chief of Staff of the President, Hungarian Institute of International Affairs)

15:00 – 16:00
Special Envoy Roundtable

Zsolt Bunford (Special Envoy of the Prime Minister of Hungary for the Western Balkans)
Anžej Frangeš (Ambassador & Special Envoy for the Western Balkans of the Republic of Slovenia, Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in Budapest)
René Troccaz (Special Envoy for the Western Balkans of France, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, France)
Eirik Nesteas Mathisen (Special Envoy for the Western Balkans of Norway, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kingdom of Norway)
Michael Reiffenstuel (Director for the Western Balkans, Türkiye, Council of Europe and OSCE, German Federal Foreign Office)
Stribor Kikerec (Director-General for Southeast Europe, Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Republic of Croatia)
Moderator: Márton Ugrósdy (Deputy State Secretary, Prime Minister’s Office, Hungary)

16:00 – 16:10
Closing remarks

Linda Kapustová Helbichová (Executive Director of the International Visegrad Fund)

16:10 – 16:30
Coffee break

16:30 – 19:00
Technical break

19:00 – 20:00
High-level Evening Panel
Security Dynamics in the Balkans: Peacekeeping, Military Development and Alliances

Péter Sztáray (State Secretary for Security Policy and Energy Security, Hungary)
Josip Brkic (Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Periša Kastratović (State Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Montenegro)
Moderator: Anton Bendarzsevszkij (Director at Oeconomus Economic Research Foundation)