Minister Damjanović meets Commissioner Moedas in CERN

Minister of Science Dr. Sanja Damjanović is staying in the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) this week, where she had a meeting with Carlos Moedas, European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, during his second official visit to the institution.

Commissioner Moedas stated that he was very pleased with the opportunity to meet Minister Damjanović at a place where she had worked for a long period of time and thanked Fabiola Gianotti, CERN Director-General, for enabling the meeting. Minister Damjanović expressed her gratitude to Commissioner Moedas for his continued support to the SEEIIST project, reiterating that he was one of the first Brussels officials who supported the project and understood its significance and value for South East Europe. It was thanks to his influence that SEEIIST received the first EUR 1.2 million from the European Commission's Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, which will facilitate the transition to the second phase of the project. Minister Damjanović and Prof. Herwig Schopper, former Director-General of CERN and the creator of the SEEIIST project idea, familiarised Commissioner Moedas with the activities planned for the next phase, development of a detailed Design Study, which has already begun.

Commissioner Moedas indicated that he would continue to follow the development of SEEIIST in the future and do his best to help its further progress as much as possible. “It’s excellent that you have the support of my colleague Jean-Eric Paquet, Director-General of DG Research and Innovation, whose opinion is highly valued in Brussels and who understood the value of SEEIIST for the region from the very beginning”, he said.

Finally, Commissioner Moedas added that SEEIIST was an outstanding example of “science for peace”, as it would enable the integration of all countries of the region and their further progress and development. In this regard, he compared SEEIIST with the SESAME project in Jordan, which is a great example of “science of peace” approach in the Middle East and which was recognised as such and financially supported by the EC. “It would be great if SEEIIST project had the same destiny as the SESAME project, and I hope it will be the case”, he added.

During the meeting in CERN, the interlocutors also talked about the SEEIIST Kick-off meeting, scheduled to take place on 18 September in Budva, as an event that will officially announce the beginning of the first phase of the project. The meeting will be attended by a large number of high-level EC officials, ministers of the countries of the region, directors of scientific institutions and representatives of the European scientific community.