Meeting of the Western Balkans Parliamentary Forum on SALW in Serbia

On 8 October 2010 in the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, SEESAC organized a roundtable on parliamentary oversight of arms export controls. The event, which took place within the framework of the Western Balkans Parliamentary Forum on SALW, was a follow-up to the Regional Meeting of the Western Balkans Parliamentary Forum, held in Belgrade on 12 May 2010 T]. The aim of the event was to support the further development of the capacity of Serbian Members of Parliament (MPs) to oversee arms exports.

The roundtable was attended by MPs from the Committee for Defense and Security, the Committee for Development and Foreign Economic Relations and the Committee for Trade and Tourism. The roundtable was opened by Mr. Milan Josipovic, Assistant Minister at the Ministry of Economy and Regional Development and Mr. Diman Dimov, SEESAC Team Leader. Ms. Jasmina Roskic from the Ministry of Economy and Regional Development, presented the legal provisions and procedures in the field of import and export of arms, military equipment and dual-use goods in the Republic of Serbia. Ambassador Branka Latinovic from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs provided an overview of international restrictive measures concerning arms exports arguing that these constituted an important part of Serbia’s export control system. Furthermore, Mr. Milan Vasovic from the Ministry of Interior adressed the role of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the process of the issuing of permits in the Republic of Serbia, and Snezana Milic from the Ministry of Economy and Regional Development presented the 2008 National Annual Report on the Export and Import of Controlled Goods. Finally, Dr. Ivan Zverzhanovski, SEESAC Progamme Officer, held a presentation on the regional processes of cooperation concerning the control of small arms and light weapons. Concluding remarks were given by MPs and Mr. Dimov.
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