The EU and the Black Sea

The seminar brought together EU and member state officials, as well as officials from countries around the Black Sea and experts on the region. In addition, the seminar hosted Salome Zourabishvili, the former Georgian foreign minister, who spoke during the lunch on her views of regional developments. The Secretary-General of BSEC, Tedo Japaridze (also a former Georgian foreign minister) also participated.

Welcome and opening comments: Nicole Gnesotto, Director, EUISS

Session I: A New Black Sea Region? EU Enlargement, Revolutions and Conflicts
Chair: Nicole Gnesotto, Director, EUISS
Speakers:
Mustafa Aydin, Economy and Technology University (TOBB), Ankara
Ognian Minchev, Institute for Regional and International Studies, Sofia
Thomas Gomart, Institut Français de Relations Internationales (IFRI), Paris

Session II: Political and Security Relations in and Around the Black Sea - National Policies and Multilateral Cooperation
Chair: Walter Posch, EUISS
Speakers:
Sergiu Celac, International Centre for Black Sea Studies (ICBSS), Athens
Hryhoriy Perepelitsa, National Institute of Strategic Studies, Kiev
Sergey Goncharenko, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Moscow Lunch
Keynote speaker: Salomé Zourabichvili, former Foreign Minister of Georgia, Tbilissi

Session III: Major Players and the Black Sea
Chair: Marcin Zaborowski, EUISS
Speakers:
James Sherr, Conflict Studies Research Centre, Defence Academy of the United Kingdom
Ian Lesser, Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington D.C.

Session IV: The EU and the Black Sea - What Policy?
Chair: Dov Lynch, EUISS
Speakers:
Tedo Japaridze, Organisation of the Black Sea Economic Corporation (BSEC), Istanbul
Martin Malek, National Defence Academy, Vienna
Sofia Moreira de Sousa, Secretariat General of the Council of the EU, Brussels