Serbia and the Western Balkans:
Economic Challenges, European Perspectives
event
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Date
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Monday, 7 November 2011
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Venue
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Shaw Library, Old Building, LSE
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Speaker
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Mr Božidar Djelić
Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia
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Chair
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Dr James Ker-Lindsay
Senior Research Fellow on the Politics of SEE, LSE
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On 7 November 2011, LSEE hosted a lecture by Božidar Djelić, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for European Integration of Serbia. Held at a time when Serbia was busy pressing its case to be accepted as a candidate for membership of the European Union, the talk attracted considerable interest. In his presentation, which was held in the Shaw Library, the Minister outlined the significant progress made by Serbia in the decade since the fall of Slobodan Milošević.
Although he acknowledged that much still remained to be done, he nevertheless stressed that on the basis of the work done so far Serbia deserved to be granted candidacy. At the end of his lecture, the Minister fielded questions on a wide range of issues.
In addition to the Kosovo issue, another major topic was decentralisation. As was pointed out, the latest census figures have revealed that the population is declining across much of Serbia. In response, the Minister described various steps being taken to try to regenerate areas outside of Belgrade and Novi Sad and persuade businesses, both domestic and foreign, to invest more widely.
Another question related to efforts to encourage expatriate Serbs to return home - a key issue for many of the Serbian students attending the lecture. While again acknowledging that the situation needed to improve, he stressed that Serbia was keen to encourage people to return and channel their experience and expertise towards developing the country further - especially as it pursues European integration.