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Young diplomats from the Western Balkans inform themselves about the IRZ

Published: July 16, 2019

From 12 June to 10 July 2019, the Federal Foreign Office put on the ninth "Executive Seminar for Diplomats from the Western Balkans", attended by junior diplomats from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia.

In addition to training and courses, the seminar programme also featured meetings with persons from the sphere of politics and parliaments as well as visits to important German institutions. On top of this, organisations involved in international and bilateral cooperation with the participants' home countries were presented, including the IRZ.

The information event on the IRZ held on 27 June, which has been taking place in this format for several years, was chaired and moderated by the head of the Western Balkans course at the Diplomats Academy, former ambassador Gudrun Steinacker. After a brief introduction, Dr. Stefan Pürner, IRZ Head of Section for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, gave an introduction on the IRZ, providing a comprehensive view of its work and its activities in the Western Balkan states.

After this, Dr. Mirjana Lazarova Trajkovska provided the participants with an account of judicial reform in their home country, North Macedonia, and the role of the IRZ in it. Dr. Lazarova Trajkovska was previously a Macedonian constitutional judge, former judge and Section President for North Macedonia at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg and a proven expert in this field.

The two introductory presentations were followed by an intensive discussion, which also addressed "competition between legal systems" and how important it is to maintain the continental European orientation of law to foster sustainable legal development.