The Third Annual WB MIGNET Conference: "A search for that special place under the sun in modern Europe: migration in the twenty first century" held in Zagreb

The Third Annual Conference of the Western Balkans Migration Network (WB MIGNET) "A search for that special place under the sun in modern Europe: migration in the twenty first century" was held in Zagreb from May 25–26 with the aim of encouraging interdisciplinary approach to discussing migrations. The conference attracted more than 60 participants from the academic community, international organizations, government institutions, and non-government organizations.

Welcome speeches were delivered by Maruška Vizek, PhD, director of The Institute of Economics, Zagreb; Jelena Uzelac, dean of the University College for Law and Finance – Effectus; Ivana Živković, the CEI (Central European Initiative) National Coordinator and Head of the Directorate for Regional Cooperation and Support of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, as well as Ugo Poli, CEI Project Manager and Focal Point for Migrations.

The keynote speech on fragmented and fluid migrations was given by Prof. Russell King. In the second plenary speech, Prof. Aija Lulle spoke about the notion of the European periphery, while in the third plenary speech dr. Ferruccio Pastore gave an overview of the last decade with special focus on economic crisis and migrations.

In addition to the presentation of more than 20 research papers, the conference also included a panel discussion about the policy responses to the refugee and asylum seekers’ problems on the Balkan route.

More information about the conference topic(s) can be found in the book of abstracts, which is available for dowload in open access.