The U.S. Helsinki Commission will hold in Washington Wednesday a panel discussion on the situation in southern Europe and cooperation between the countries of the region and the North Atlantic Alliance.

The hearing "Western Balkans and the 2012 NATO Summit" is organized ahead of the NATO Summit that will be held on January 20-21 in Chicago, said a release announcing the panel.

The U.S. Helsinki Commission believes that further progress of Western Balkan countries in Euro-Atlantic integration would contribute to stabilization of the situation in the Western Balkans and help strengthen democratic institutions.

The panel will feature speeches by Daniel Serwer, a professorial lecturer and senior fellow at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, Nida Gelazis, a senior associate of the European Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and Ivan Vejvoda, the director of the Balkan Trust for Democracy and vice-president of the German Marshall Fund.