04.12.2017.
Regional Public Relations Conference “Media, Peacekeeping Operations and Migrant Crisis”
A two day Regional public relations conference “Media, Peacekeeping Missions and Migrant Crisis” started today in the congress centre in Kovačica and it is organised by the Public Relations Department of the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Serbia with the support of the Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom and the Embassy of the United Kingdom in Belgrade.
The Conference has gathered representatives of public relations services of the ministries of defence of the countries in the region, and representatives of regional media which deal with the topics of contemporary security challenges, all with the aim of exchanging experiences in these important areas.
Ambassador of the Great Britain in Serbia, Denis Keefe attended the opening, as well as the State Secretary in the Ministry of Defence Aleksandar Živković, Head of Public Relations Department in the Ministry of Defence, Navy Captain Petar Bošković, and Defence Attaché of the United Kingdom Colonel Simon Fitzgibbon.
Opening the Conference, Ambassador Keefe pointed out that he hoped that the participants would exchange opinions and experiences during the Conference, as well as the solutions and best practices regarding ever more important issue of relations between defence system and media, especially in modern times when everyone desired information 24 hours per day, which left a little room for their verification, and the mistakes could have their consequences even years after the very event.
Pointing out that Serbia hosted that expert gathering for the first time, the State Secretary Živković said that the members of the Ministry of Defence had vast experience in the topics to which the Conference was dedicated, which would make it even more useful for all the participants, while the other panellists and guests from the region would shed light on the said topics even deeper aimed at their better understanding, and the enhancement of cooperation in those areas.
Navy Captain Bošković reminded that the Serbian Armed Forces were the third year in a row an institution that the citizens of Serbia trusted the most, but he also pointed to the fact that the Ministry of Defence, although a pretty closed system in its nature, was among the first institutions that understood the significance of social networks for the communication with the public and it had built its credibility in that sphere.
Today’s first panel was dedicated to the trends in relations between media and armed forces, and apart from Ambassador Keefe, the topic was talked about by a producer and journalist Daniel Šunter, and by Manager of the Public Relations Service in the Ministry of Defence of Montenegro Alma Adrović. Navy Captain Bošković was the moderator of the panel.
The relation of media and multinational operations was in the focus of the second panel, and the observations regarding the topic were given in the address by Julian Harston, former high official in the UN, and the Head of Peacekeeping Operations Centre of the Serbian Armed Forces Colonel Nikola Dejanović, Lieutenant Colonel Nemanja Borovčanin, a participant in MINUSCA mission, Head of Service for Public Relations of the Ministry of Defence of Croatia Dražen Jonjić, PR of Macedonian Armed Forces Lieutenant Colonel Toni Janevski and Captains Nick Hilli and Grant Kelli from the team for public relations of the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom.
Apart from the speeches delivered by the participants, the panels provided an opportunity for discussions and exchange of experiences of the Conference participants regarding most prominent aspects of the importance of media in contemporary security environment.
Tomorrow’s panels are going to be dedicated to the media and migrant crisis with particular emphasis on cross border cooperation in migration control.
