Izmir: The meeting of the Coordination Committee of the South-Eastern Europe Defence Ministerial

Representatives of the Montenegrin Ministry of Defence, Lieutenant Colonel Velibor Bakrač and Lieutenant (N) Saša Čepić attended the meeting of the Coordination Committee of the South-Eastern Europe Defence Ministerial SEDM, that was held in Izmir, Turkey.

Lieutenant Colonel Bakrač, the Head of the International Cooperation Department in MOD, expressed the Ministry's full dedication to further developing regional co-operation in defence and thanked all SEDM members for the assistance and support that contributed to Montenegro's NATO membership. He stressed that the SEDM process enhances the understanding and trust of the member states, strengthens the interoperability and the capacity of the Armed Forces at the national level. Lieutenant Colonel Bakrač thanked the representatives of the Ministry of Defence of Turkey for a very successful presidency and wished the success to Greece, which will take over the presidency on July 1st.

Lieutenant (N) Saša Čepić, delivered a presentation about the forthcoming Deputy Chiefs of General Staff of SEDM member countries Meeting, which will be held in Montenegro this June.

The SEDM National Representatives held presentations on project statuses related to the Building Integrity Program in the Defence and Security Sector, Women's Representation in Management Positions in the Defence System and the Military Hospital Linking Program. Also, a report on the improvement of the SEDM portal was presented with the aim of establishing more effective co-operation of the SEDM member countries.

The participants considered the SEDM process as a very important initiative for deepening the cooperation in the region and a better understanding of common security challenges.

SEDM is the oldest regional initiative that exists for 20 years, and brings together 15 Southeastern European countries. In addition to Montenegro, SEDM member countries are Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Albania, Serbia, Slovenia, Turkey, Romania, Greece, Bulgaria, Italy, Ukraine, Georgia, United States, while Moldova is currently attending the meetings as the observer country.