Southeastern Europe discusses NATO's new Strategic Concept
Senior policymakers and experts from the Western Balkans met in Slano, Croatia, from 3-5 September to discuss NATO’s new Strategic Concept from their perspective. The event took place in parallel with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen’s introduction of the group of experts on the new Concept to the North Atlantic Council on 4 September in Brussels.
The conference was hosted by the Atlantic Council of Croatia, the Croatian Ministry of Defence and NATO's Public Diplomacy Division. Representatives from Israel, Jordan and Ukraine also participated, broadening the range of views to include both Allied and Partner countries.
"It is important that the discussion about NATO's new Strategic Concept does not take place exclusively in Paris, London, Washington or Berlin," said Dr Stefanie Babst, NATO's Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy in her opening speech. "We seek to develop a process that embraces old and new Member countries alike and offers ample opportunity for our Partners to voice their ideas and proposals for the Alliance's future strategic direction."
According to Dr Babst, contributions from NATO's Partner countries in Southeastern Europe, in particular those who aspire to join NATO, were both appreciated and important.
NATO's enlargement policy featured prominently at the event. Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Minister of Defence, Selmo Cikotic, Montenegro's Minister for European Integration, Gordana Durovic, and Kosovo's Deputy Foreign Minister, Vlora Citaku, underlined that their respective governments expect to be invited to join NATO's Membership Action Plan Programme as soon as possible as "NATO's business in the region was yet unfinished".
The conference participants also discussed NATO's role in energy security and the fight against terrorism, as well as the future of NATO's operation in Afghanistan. They agreed, overall, that the process of discussing key elements of the new Strategic Concept was as important as the final result.