26.05.2011.

South Eastern Europe Clearinghouse (SEEC)

State Secretary in the Ministry of Defence, Tanja Miscevic, has opened today the 11th Conference of Southeast Europe Clearinghouse - SEEC) in the House of Guard at Topcider.

Opening ceremony was attended by Milorad Peric, Head of International Military Cooperation Department, and representatives of organizational units of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces.

Speaking about the importance of the meeting, Secretary Miscevic said that the regional meetings are extremely important because it is an opportunity for mutual discussions and exchange of experiences with the countries in the neighbourhood.

- Its importance for the Ministry of Defence is reflected in the fact that in this way we can present what we have done so far, but also compare our experiences and compare them with others – assessed she, adding that it is particularly important in view of the most important activity of SEEC , which is arms, their destruction and storage which is a common problem in the region. Cooperation in the region does not exist just because it is a prerequisite for the EU accession, but because it is now inevitable, Secretary Miscevic said.

Ministry of Defence is hosting this year's conference which brought together over 80 representatives from 33 countries of the region, donors, UN, OSCE, EU, NATO, and the organization "Transparency International".

The aim of the gathering is to analyse operation of the declared centres - the CBRN Training Centre in Krusevac, and the Peacekeeping Operations Training Centre – PSOTC in Butmir and the Media Centre in Skopje. The conference is an opportunity to properly present the additional resources and opportunities of the Serbian regional capacities, above all, the new Defence University, the base South and the Technical Repair Facility in Kragujevac.

Southeast Europe Clearinghouse was launched as a regional initiative in 2004, at the suggestion of Slovenia and the United States with a view to achieving better donor coordination in assisting countries in the region. Under the auspices of the SEEC, the Donor Conference was held in Belgrade in June 2006, which provided about 4.5 million euros for the realization of more than 64 defence reform projects of the Republic of Serbia, and in 2009 the CBRN Training Centre in Krusevac was promoted to the status of a regional centre.