Balkans Chapter

The PNoWB launched its Balkans chapter at a meeting in Athens, Greece on September 29-30, 2006.  PNoWB member Christodoulakis was the key driver behind the initiative, which is aimed at fostering dialogue between parliamentarians in the region and the Wold Bank/IMF.

At a critical time in the process of European Union integration, with countries engaged in various stages of negotiations to join the Union, the establishment of a Southeast Europe PNoWB aims to mobilize parliamentarians to take concrete action to enhance cooperation and to lay the ground for a common economic space.

The meeting brought together 40 parliamentarians from Southeast Europe around the theme “Towards an Economic Space in Southeast Europe”, with World Bank experts and donors, including European institutions, the IMF, Stability Pact and others.  The participating parliamentarians were from Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, FYR of Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Turkey. 

The conference included keynote addresses from Greek Economy and Finance Minister George Alogoskoufis and Greek MP and former European Union Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou, and discussions on themes critical to the region’s development such as good governance, energy, trade, transport, labour markets and immigration.