SEESAC Participates in Meeting of Deputy Chiefs of Defence of South Eastern Europe Defence Ministerial (SEDM) Forum

SEESAC participated in the Meeting of Deputy Chiefs of Defence (DCHOD) of the South Eastern Europe Defence Ministerial Forum organised under the Sofia Chairmanship in Brdo kod Kranja, Slovenia, on 14 June 2022. The meeting gathered representatives of the Member Nations and international/regional organisations (SEESAC, RACVIAC) to foster dialogue and regional cooperation and exchange information related to common security challenges in the region. It also aimed at encouraging political-military collaboration in South Eastern Europe (SEE) to further strengthen security and stability in the region.

The meeting was presided by Mr. Yordan Bozhilov, SEDM-CC/PMSC Chairman and Deputy Minister of Defence, MoD Sofia, Ms. Daniela Grigorova, SEDM-CC/PMSC Secretariat, MoD Sofia and Major General Roman Urbanč, Deputy Chief of General Staff, MoD Ljubljana. SEDM member nations, observers and affiliated international and regional organisations participated in the meeting.

During the meeting, SEESAC provided an update on the activities conducted since the last SEDM-DCHOD meeting in supporting the counterparts in South Eastern Europe to strengthen small arms and light weapons control and advance gender equality in the military. Moreover, the participants were informed on implementation of the projects devoted to disarmament and arms control in South Eastern Europe.

Furthermore, we were pleased to announce that a regional workshop for the defence authorities from the region Focusing on Good Practices Related to Ammunition Surveillance will be organised in close cooperation with RACVIAC and with the EU support in Podgorica on 27-29 June 2022.

SESAC also used this opportunity to reaffirm its commitment to jointly work with the SEDM Secretariat and all the forum’s participating Nations in contributing to regional security, stability and peace, as well as to the Sustainable Development Goals.

SEDM DCOD Chair emphasized the significance of the SEESAC’s assistance in contributing to security, stability and cooperation in SEE.