“Future of NATO and the Balkans: Lessons from Estonia” debate at UACS

Yesterday, on February 29, 2024, the Univeristy American College Skopje hosted a debate entitled: “Future of NATO and the Balkans: Lessons from Estonia”. As part of the project “Seeing is Believing – Building Public Understanding of NATO & Resilience in the Balkans by Bringing Macedonian and Montenegrin Journalists to Estonia.”, this project was realized by the Forum – Center for Strategic Research and Documentation (CSRD) from Skopje and the University Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Bologna Center, in organization with Saso Ordanoski and Edward P. Joseph, as co-directors for the project, with the support from the U.S. Mission to NATO.

At the debate, panelists including H.E. Slajvanka Petrovska, Minister of Defense of the Republic of North Macedonia, and Dr. Tomas Jermalavičius, Head of Studies at the International Centre for Defence and Security (ICDS) from Tallinn, Estonia, along with four Macedonian journalists who were part of the Study Visit to Estonia in 2023, Slobodanka Jovanovska, Nazim Rashidi, Dragan Mišev, and Borjan Jovanovski, shared their valuable insights in front of an audience consisting of student and youth leaders from the Western Balkans and the U.S. who were involved in the project.

We are grateful to all the participants and attendees who made this event a success. It was an enriching and engaging discussion that provided a deeper understanding of the future of NATO and the Balkans through the lens of Estonia’s experiences.