Centrum Stosunków Międzynarodowych - 31 August – 01 September 2016: Speakers from Central and Eastern European Parliaments meet in Warsaw

A meeting of speakers from Central and Eastern European parliaments is being carried out in Warsaw. Conference talks focus on the recovery of the EU, the improvement of parliamentary dialogue and the cooperation among the countries of the Central and Eastern European region. Heads of parliaments from the wider CEE region such as the Western Balkans and the Caucasians countries also attend the conferences. Despite the scarce attention given to this conference, the Warsaw meeting represents the opportunity of reaffirming what has emerged from last week's intensive rounds of diplomatic talks between CEE EU's member states to find common agreements on current's world challenges and the future of the European Union after Brexit.

It is also a chance of widening and strengthen ties with strategic neighbouring partners as well as of reaffirming Poland's leading role in the region.

Balkans countries where represented by MPs from Serbia and Montenegro. In particular, speaker of the Serbian National Assembly, Maja Gojkovic Gojkovic had talks with the Marshal of the Polish Senate, Stanislaw Karczewski, pointing out that the parliamentarians of the Western Balkan region should, "as the citizens' direct representatives, contribute to further cooperation through personal efforts". The two parliamentarians announced their readiness for improvement of bilateral relations, development of parliamentary cooperation and cooperation of committees.

Speakers from Belarus were present at the meeting, too. In his address, Deputy Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus Viktor Guminsky, speaking at the plenary, called for "uniting efforts in the region for a prompt response to geographical imbalances in social and economic development and a surge of terrorism." He expressed confidence in the viability of developing cooperation between the Eurasian Economic Union and the European Union with a view of establishing a "common economic and humanitarian space from Lisbon to Vladivostok."

Even though intentions and declarations arisen from the conferences are of the best, it is unrealistic to believe concrete political actions will be taken at least in the short-term. At least as long as Russian energetic and military influence in the region will be of such magnitude.