The European Fund for the Balkans funds Serbian Visiting Researcher at the Hellenic Centre for European Studies

 The Hellenic Centre for European Studies is proud to announce the addition of Ms. Jelena Radoman, Research Fellow with the Belgrade Center for Civil-Military Relations, to its research team, as a Visiting Researcher through the generous support of the European Fund for the Balkans.

The participation of Ms. Jelena Radoman as a Visiting Researcher in the Hellenic Centre for European Studies (EKEM) during the summer months of 2010 will constitute a key part of our collaboration with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington. In October 2009, the two institutions established a joint Task Force, consisting of two Working Groups - one based in Washington, D.C. and the other in Athens. The Task Force assembles policy experts in both countries who will help formulate concrete and focused policy recommendations for a consequential Western (U.S. and EU/Greek) policy approach toward the Western Balkan countries. The Task Force, therefore, aims to promulgate practical policy recommendations for American and Greek policymakers and create innovative joint approaches to the challenges faced by the Western Balkan countries, all the while bringing the region’s arduous stabilization process into the forefront of attention in both sides of the Atlantic.

In an effort to increase EKEM's capacity-building potential and to foster policy-making mechanisms in both Athens and the Western Balkan countries on issues related to Southeast Europe, EKEM is hosting a Visiting Researcher from the eminent Centre for Civil-Military Relations in Belgrade. The presence of a researcher from the Western Balkans will also prove beneficial for EKEM given that the Balkan Peninsula constitutes a key focus area for EKEM since its inception in 1988. At the same time, EKEM is very keen on promoting comparative research in both Southeast Europe and post-communist states in general. A collaboration with the Centre for Civil-Military Relations gives EKEM, a research center operating under the auspices of the Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the unique possibility to broaden and deepen the relations between Athens and the Western Balkans at a crucial time when Greece is an active supporter of the region's Euro-Atlantic integration processes. During her stay in Athens, Ms. Radoman’s contribution will be particularly welcome when it comes to security issues as she will focus, inter alia, on how post-conflict, transition states respond to the challenges of democratization and integration to Western institutions.

The Hellenic Centre for European Studies was founded in 1988 as an independent research centre, under the institutional oversight of the Hellenic Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Its main objective is the study, research and debate of European and International affairs. EKEM operates as a channel of communication between government, the academic community and the private sector, in an effort to contribute to the formulation and implementation of a comprehensive and cohesive European policy. It is a research Institute and a forum for dialogue on matters of European integration, as well as a liaison between Greece and other European countries. The autonomous intervention of EKEM in public debate and its effective contribution to policy formulation as well as the promotion of public awareness of European issues are based on the principles of independence and pluralism.