As part of the overall concept for the Prespa Forum for Dialogue (PFD), a Road to Prespa Forum Dialogue panel is planned to take place as a precursor to the first PFD international conference on 28 May 2021.

The aim of that would deliberate on the ways and means to make use of the positive results of the three agreements of North Macedonia (the Ohrid Framework Agreement and the Agreements with Bulgaria and Greece) in overcoming other outstanding bilateral and regional issues. The underlying idea is that the PFD will become the place of the new impetus for open discussions and solutions so that the region could be also seen as able to deliver in terms of cooperation, stability, and security.

The panel will focus on providing the necessary food for thought on how to: create a positive dialogue within and among the countries and their societies; move forward in dealing with the difficult issues at hand; create positive regional narratives that could contribute to enhancing the regional cooperation and strengthening the stability and security; overcome the delay in the EU enlargement process; and address the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The panel would also serve as a platform for collecting ideas and suggestions that would be put together in a Regional Policy Brief with policy recommendations on the political, economic, and social impact of the regional and bilateral agreements in the Western Balkans commissioned by the MFA of North Macedonia. The policy recommendations should be presented at the Concluding Plenary Session of the PFD conference in Ohrid by Professor Florian Bieber, Director of the Centre for Southeast European Studies at the University of Graz.