ZAGREB, November 23, 2018 – A two-day regional security conference on security challenges in Europe opened in Zagreb on Thursday, bringing together government officials from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Slovenia and representatives of the German Institute for Security Policy.
The conference was organised by the Regional Arms Control Verification and Implementation Assistance Centre (RACVIAC) – Centre for Security Cooperation and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation with the support of the Institute for Development and International Relations.
The regional security conference was opened by presidential defence and national security adviser Vlado Galić, who said that global security challenges such as terrorism and illegal migration have become challenges to many states which, being responsible members of the international community, should give their contribution to eradicating such phenomena.
He said that there are a lot of security challenges that are important for stability and security in Southeast Europe, adding that both stability and security are affected by developments in the region and by distant processes in the globalised world.
“The stability of Southeast Europe is a vital interest for the national security of Croatia and all countries in Southeast Europe,” Galić said. He added that he is confident that these countries are following with concern “the processes and numerous challenges that meet and overlap” in the region.
Galić said that these challenges can be viewed through the influence of third parties on the countries of Southeast Europe, through the influence of radical political ideologies and through the influence of global processes such as uncontrolled mass migration and terrorism.
Opening remarks were also made by RACVIAC director Jeronim Bazo, the head of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Croatia, Michael A. Lange, German ambassador to Croatia Robert Richard Klinke, and the state secretary at the Croatian Ministry of Defence, Zdravko Jakop.
This year’s regional security conference is the sixth in a series of activities aimed at discussing transformation processes in Southeast Europe with regard to institutional readiness and responsibility for membership of NATO and the EU, particularly taking into account necessary reforms in the security sector in the context of contemporary security challenges.
Speaking to the press after the opening ceremony, Galić declined to comment on the so-called fake text messages affair, following media reports that he had contacted the suspect Franjo Varga several times. Varga, a former police IT specialist, has been remanded to custody on suspicion of fabricating text messages for former Dinamo Football Club boss Zdravko Mamić, which he was to use as evidence of pressure being put on judges in his case to convict him. Media have also linked Varga to the deputy leader of the ruling HDZ party, Milijan Brkić.
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