Record numbers attend Balkans Conference

The Royal Docks School of Business and Law hosted a high profile three-day international symposium entitled "The Balkans and the Greater Middle East in the Global Vortex" at University Square Stratford on March 15-17.

The event saw policy-makers, journalists, businesspersons, ambassadors, students and academics attending to hear three reports on “Preconditions of peace in the Balkans and the Greater Middle East” and participate in lively discussions and interesting Q & As on topics such as “Peace in the Balkans and Middle East: At What Cost?"

Speaking about solutions towards empowering the Balkan and Middle Eastern societies and communities there was a focus on citizens and that they should stand up for what they feel right for them including advocating for their human security and welfare rights.

Esteemed speaker Sir William Patey (Permanent Representative of BiH to the UN) noted that it was about "international understanding. People proffering their own solutions. Unless the people who are the recipients have a much bigger say in what happens, the outcomes are usually bad. People who will be the most impacted should have the biggest say in it. It will be a good place to start.”

HE Peter Ford (former UK Ambassador to Bahrain and Syria) submitted that when identifying issues and finding solutions, it was pivotal that citizens were aware of the predicaments and HE Prica Milos (Ambassador at Large of BiH to the UN) emphasised that “without reinstating certain moral principles, we couldn’t have had a better world. Restoring moral principles, particularly in elites, is therefore pertinent.”

The conference was introduced by Professor Amanda Broderick, (President and VC of UEL) and Dr Shampa Roy-Mukherjee (Interim Dean of the Royal Docks School of Business & Law) and an afternoon session chaired by Professor William Mallinson (former British diplomat and member of the Editorial Committee of the Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies).

The three-day conference which was chaired by RDSBL's Vassilis Fouskas (Professor of International Relations) also marked and celebrated the 25th anniversary of the "Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies" which is published by Routledge/Taylor & Francis.

Professor Fouskas said: "This extraordinary event with over 180 attendees beating three national strikes, showcases the importance of such international symposia in terms of scholarly interactions and networking. It was a landmark for our School and our UEL student community. I'm thankful to my University and School, as well as all the administrators and students involved, for their generous support before, during and after the end of this event. To be continued".

Read more about the conference which was featured in Phile News- the largest Cypriot daily newspaper in Nicosia.