JORDAN PLEVNES UNANIMOUSLY ELECTED AS A NEW PRESIDENT OF ACADEMIA BALKANICA EUROPEANA

Following the proposition of the President of the European Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, Jean-Patrick Connerade, a professor at Imperial College London, the internationally renowned Macedonian writer Jordan Plevnes was unanimously elected President of the Academia Balkanica Europeana, by all  members from Balkan countries.

This election followed the recent departure in eternity of the academy's first president, Ion Caramitru, elected in Bucharest on October 29, 2017, a legendary Balkanophile, theater actor, director and filmmaker, Romania's first Minister of Culture since the fall of Ceaușescu.

​Following the election of the new President Jordan Plevnes, an open call is published for election of new members of the Academy in the field of Natural and Social Sciences (from April 5 to May 30, 2022). The research institute which will be set up by the newly elected academicians will work in four priority areas related to the Open Balkans project - economics, ecology, medicine and renewable energy sources.

The plenary session of the Academia Balkanica Europeana, which relocated its headquarters from Bucharest, and now is officially registered in Skopje, is expected to be held at the end of June and the beginning of July 2022 in Macedonia.


PROPOSITION FOR NEW PRESIDENT OF ABE  
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"Dear Friends, Colleagues and Distinguished Members of the Academia Balkanica Europeana,

I wish you all a very happy and prosperous New Year 2022, with much success in your many and diverse activities which bring credit to all of us and to the Academy itself.

In addition to sending you my greetings for the New year, I am writing for an important reason concerning the future of the Academia Balkanica Europeana. As you already know, there is now a vacancy since our much loved former President Yon Caramitru has sadly left this world. We are now faced with the challenge of replacing him. Of course, the new President will need to be chosen collectively by the active members, but maybe, in my role as Honorary President and also as the acting President of the European Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters (EASAL) which has been involved since the outset in establishing the Academia Balkanica, you will allow me to make a proposal for the successor to Yon Caramitru. It seems to me that we have already to hand the ideal person to take on this responsibility.

I would like to remind you all how much Jordan Plevnes has done, not only in his capacity as Rector of the University of Audiovisual Arts in Skopje and former Ambassador of Macedonia to promote learning, culture and creativity in all the countries of the Balkans, but also to establish the Academia Balkanica itself as a new and flourishing institution which (we all hope) will best represent future peaceful links between our nations. His work has been of exceptional importance and I think we should all recognize that our Academy itself would not have come into being without his vision and indefatigable campaigning.

The Academia Balkanica is not merely a scholarly initiative. After so many political attempts to create a peaceful and stable web to connect Balkan nations to each other, there is a general realisation that the true unifying force is cultural. It is through Humanism, the Arts and eventually the Sciences that the region will reveal its true potential. Only when these energies are all harnessed together will we discover just how much the Balkans can contribute to the development of the European spirit. This has always been the dream of our friend Jordan Plevnes, and I see no other person who has worked so hard to achieve this noble aim.

I would also point to the time and energy he devotes to the Ohrid Academy of Humanism, which plays a central role and is recognised worldwide for its contribution to broadening horizons of Art and Culture in central Europe.

Jordan Plevenes is widely respected for his own literary work as a playwright, as a writer and as a poet. Recently, his many contributions to the Audiovisual arts at a European level have been recognised by the award of a Grand Prize by the Académie Française in Paris. He is clearly a leading figure on the international scene, exceptionally well placed to represent the most positive aspects of Culture in the Balkans.

I would therefore like to suggest that you all consider Jordan Plevnes as a very suitable candidate for the Presidency of the Academia Balkanica Europeana. Not only does his energy and enthusiasm mark him out as an ideal future President, but his diplomatic and cultural expertise would ensure that the Academy is guided by a reliable pair of hands. In short, I have no hesitation in recommending him to you all most highly for this position. "
   
Jean-Patrick Connerade (7  January 2022)