On September 30 – October 2, 2015, Belgrade was the venue of the 5th Security Forum held under the leitmotif “Can Europe Redefine Itself?” in view of exacerbation of problems related with Middle East refugees, Ukraine crisis, Islamic radicalism, efficiency of European institutions, the role of the OSCE in conflict settlement including maintenance of peace in the Balkans. The event gathered over 600 participants, among them a Russian delegation invited by the organizers to continue the last year tradition.
On September 30 – October 2, 2015, Belgrade was the venue of the 5th Security Forum held under the leitmotif “Can Europe Redefine Itself?” in view of exacerbation of problems related with Middle East refugees, Ukraine crisis, Islamic radicalism, efficiency of European institutions, the role of the OSCE in conflict settlement including maintenance of peace in the Balkans. The event gathered over 600 participants, among them a Russian delegation invited by the organizers to continue the last year tradition.
At the session “The Russian Dilemma: What Kind of International Order Russia is Seeking?” moderated by RIAC Member Vladimir Baranovsky, IMEMO Directorate Member and Director of RAS Situational Analysis Center, RIAC Deputy Program Director Timur Makhmutov spoke on the decisive role of international law for maintaining stable and predictable global relations, as well as the need for broad international cooperation in handling global challenges and threats. His presentation was followed by comments from the U.S., German and Slovakian delegates.
The Russia issue was also highlighted during other discussions, with special attention given to parallels between the Ukraine and Yugoslav crises with active participation of RIAC Member Andrey Zagorsky, Head of Disarmament and Conflict Settlement Department at RAS IMEMO and MGIMO professor. The discussants agreed that the Minsk process gives some hope to preserve the environment for the talks even after January 2016.
With Russia attracting a lot of interest at the Forum, there seems to be considerable potential for debating Moscow’s foreign policy at meetings of Russian and European foreign affairs experts.
Belgrade Security Forum
