On 8 - 9 March 2020, Grigorij Mesežnikov participated in the Western Balkans Think-Tank Forum. The event, held in Skopje under the slogan “Stimulating Strategic Autonomy: Western Balkans‘ contribution for a shared European future“, was organized by the Institute for Democracy Societas Civilis - Skopje (Northern Macedonia), the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), ERSTE foundation and Europe's Futures program of the Institute for Human Sciences (IWM) in Vienna.

Forum was attended by experts from Northern Macedonia, Serbia, Kosovo, Albania, Croatia, Montenegro, Austria, Italy, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Germany, France and Great Britain.

In his contribution and the following discussion, IVO president and fellow of the Europe's Futures program addressed the issue of rule of law in the context of the democratization and euro-integration of post-communist countries. He highlighted the challenges facing the current and future EU members in the framework of partnership between the union and Western Balkan states.