Opening ceremony of the Belgrade Security Conference BSC 2023

Igor Bandović, the Director of the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy, opened the 2023 Belgrade Security Conference (BSC) on the 11th of October 2023. In his opening remarks, he mentioned the current destabilising events, such as the war in Ukraine, the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, as well as the local dispute between Serbia and Kosovo.

Bandović highlighted the BSC’s openness towards including the Serbian Government’s representatives in the Conference’s panel discussions but explained that so far, little to no interest has been demonstrated by Serbia’s ministers. He diverted the audience’s attention to a collective responsibility to shape the future and welcomed everyone to take part in the upcoming discussions.

In light of celebrating the life of Milovan Milovanović, a dedicated Serbian statesman and diplomat, a short documentary was screened, depicting his dedication to his work. Among many of his admirable traits, the documentary stressed leniency, flexibility, and adaptability, as well as the willingness to foster friendly relations with the neighboring countries, especially Bulgaria.

Following the documentary, Srđan Cvijić, the President of the International Advisory Committee of the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy, explained that Milovan Milovanović was “probably the most important and the most forgotten Serbian statesman”, claiming that if he were around today, Serbia’s foreign policy would be immensely different. He explained that if Serbia had been governed by Milovanović’s ideas, sanctions would have been imposed on Russia long ago, and regional relationships would be much more stable, as “the precondition for a meaningful foreign policy is to understand the world”.