Third Belgrade security forum gathered a 100 speakers and more than 400 participants

 

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The third Belgrade security forum gathered 100 speakers and more than 400 high officials from different countries, representatives from prestigious research and science institutes, civil society organizations, parliaments and media.

Forum was organised with aim to intensify high quality debate on security, international relations and responsibility to find solutions for the current security challenges. Within the topic “Is the state in the process of (de)construction? Risks and responses from the Balkans and beyond”, 22 discussions were held.

Academic event

Again, the Forum started with the Academic session, but this year the discussion was the result of a BCSP research project The Security Transitions in the Western Balkans: From Conflict Zone to Security Community.

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Participants of the Academic event were first addressed by H.E. Nils Ragnar Kamsvèg, Ambassador of Norway in Serbia and Sonja Stojanović Gajić, BCSP director. Main topic of discussion during the Academic event was transformation of diplomacy and security professions in international security. The keynote speech was given by senior researcher at the ARENA Centre for European Studies in Oslo‚ Dr Mai’a K. Davis Cross. A discussion during the three panels revealed new trends in the transformation of diplomacy and security professions in the Balkans, both within and beyond the state. The most discussed topics were the role of traditional (face to face) diplomacy vs. e-diplomacy, the importance of platforms like Twitter in the transformation process.

The Academic event was followed by a well attended presentation of the report “Transatlantic Trends 2013” organized in cooperation with the Balkan Trust for Democracy.

Regional cooperation

After the official reception in the evening were simultaneously held five thematic sessions. Security cooperation in the region was the subject of most discussion, and a session in which participants were representatives of the Western Balkans Security Think Tanks Consortium has attracted lots of attention. 

{image3}Speakers had taken a critical look at security cooperation practices and evaluated how regional interactions could be further developed to foster both trust-building and operational effectiveness in the provision of security. They agreed that crime fighting is the area of cooperation with the most progress achieved. The panel discussion was based on original empirical findings from the collaborative research projects “Security Transitions in Western Balkans: from Conflict Zone to Security Community” and “Security Research Forum ‘Belgrade-Prishtina-Tirana’” which bring together think tanks from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.

High quality discussions were held about the process of reconciliation in the Western Balkans and the new forms of synergy with the states of the Visegrad group and very meaningful were the sessions about the new model of the state which is arising from the economic crisis and the position and role of global civil society in the world in crisis.{split}

European integration

At the opening panel of the second day of BSF it was discussed about the delicate dynamic between state building and the European integration processes and challenges it produces in the Western Balkans countries.

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Branko Ruzic, minister without portfolio responsible for European integration, said that the lack of finances for reform and adjustment processes are the key challenges and obstacles on the Serbian way to EU. As one of the main goals of the Government, he pointed out the need to explain what will common citizens get from the EU membership. Miroslav Lajcak, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic and Julian Braithwaite, UK Representative to the EU Political and Security Committee stated that it is encouraging to see that Serbia has clear European perspective which is reflected in strong political will to find solutions to implement reforms and integrate into the EU.

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Ways to strengthen security community in response to the current security challenges and the role of government in promoting gender equality in the security sector, were the subjects of the other two plenary panels of the second day of the Forum. After that, the discussion continued in parallel thematic sessions. There wasn't enough chairs at the debate about the influence of relations between Belgrade and Pristina on the stability of the Balkans, as well as in a discussion on the role and responsibilities of the institutions, industry and users in ensuring cyber security. Sessions devoted to the questioning EU policy towards the Mediterranean countries and the analysis of a perspective of international model of reconciliation also drew a lot of attention.

For the effective end of the second day of BSF was responsible Sajid Vahid Karimi, Director of the Directorate for European Studies at the Institute for Political and International Studies from Iran. Moderated by Bosko Jaksic, editor of Foreign Policy in the daily newspaper Politika, Sajid analyzed the international chances of Iran after the presidential and local elections.

 

Method Cafe{image6}

During the third Belgrade Security Forum, Filip Ejdus member of the BCSP Executive Board and assistant professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences, organized an innovative program for PhD students and other interested young researchers at the early stage of their career. The Method Café sessions were hosted by senior scholars Milada Anna Vachudova, Associate Professor at the University of North at Carolina Chapel Hill and Mai’a K. Davis Cross, Senior Researcher ARENA Centre for European Studies. All the participants were actively included in informal and unstructured but focused discussions about case selection, case studies, theory building and theory testing in political science and professional development in Academia.

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NATO, Kosovo, corruption, energy and human security

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The third day of the Forum was opened with a discussions in parallel sessions. The topics were different – the energy security in South-Eastern Europe, what are the causes of corruption in the Balkans, the human security situation in Kosovo and is new security architecture of the NATO transformed enough. Examples of good practice from the region and developed countries that could be a model for overcoming the problems of corruption and finding a way to change the behavior of corrupt people were the subject of the session chaired by the Sonja Stojanovic Gajic, BCSP Director. Speakers agreed that people do not corrupt institution, but that weak institutions cause corruption of the people. In their opinion the problem about corruption isn`t the fact the people are giving money but transforming the society into a clientistic machinery.

Balkans 2020

{image8} The closing panel of BSF 2013 was devoted to possible condition in the Balkans in the year 2020. The panel was focused on the aspects of the “Balkan 2020” plan, in comparison to the previous “Balkan 2010″ plan, stressing the differences between them. The speakers agreed that the main regional goal stays the integration of the entire Western Balkan into the Europian Union, the process that so far led to the large structural reforms, as well as the reform of the elites in the states of the region. However, it was stressed that many of the states still do not fulfill all requirements for joining the EU, and that there is still large fear from the “tyranny of the status quo”. Finalizing the debate, panelists again stressed out the great peacekeeping potential of EU, that can help Western Balkans to get over the troubled past.

This year's forum was marked by a lively discussion between the panelists and the audience and BSF accounts on social networks Facebook and Twitter were very active during the three days. Compared to the previous two Forums the inovation was a twit-wall, which included in the discussion the audience who did not attend the event.

Volunteers – the backbone of the organization

Same as the previous years the organisers of Belgrade Security Forum were Belgrade Centre for Security Policy,  European Movement in Serbia and Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence. Invaluable contribution to the organization of the this year's Forum has given a compact group of more than 30 volunteers, mostly students and graduates.

Strategic Partners of the third BSF were OSCE Chairmanship Task Force of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF), The Research Council of Norway, Balkan Trust for Democracy, a project of the German Marshall Fund of the United States and Slovak Atlantic Commission.

The third BSF was realized with the support of: Robert Bosch Foundation, Norwegian Embassy, United States Embassy Serbia, SlovakAid, Ministry for Foreign Affairs Sweden, NATO PDD, International Visegrad Fund, European Fund for the Balkans, Republic of Austria Federal Ministry for Defence and Sports.

Partners of the Forum were: Jagello 2000, International Centre for Democratic Tranistion, Council for Inclusive Governance and Embassy of the Slovak Republic in Belgrade.

Official Car of the Forum was Fiat Serbia.

Friends of the BSF were: Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport, National Tourism Organisation of Serbia and Tourist Organization of Belgrade and media partners were: Radio Television of Serbia,Radio Television B92,Radio Television Studio B, EurActiv Srbija, Tanjug, FoNet, Blic, Dnevnik and Novi magazin.

Third BSF was organised with the technical support of Tehnicom Informatika and with the help of Dr Audio and Urban Multimedial Presenting.  

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