As a part of NATO month 2016, the Euro-Atlantic Council of Macedonia continued with its activities, this time organizing an international scientific conference entitled: “SEECURE 2016”. The event took place on 14th of April 2016 at Army Hall, Skopje, starting at 10 h. This conference is a second event of the NATO month which is organized by the Euro-Atlantic Council under the auspices of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Macedonia with the valued support of the NATO Public Diplomacy Division.



Today the security threats are more interconnected than ever. From cyber, to energy security, from the East to the Mediterranean and Gulf area, terrorism, hybrid warfare, mass migrations and other non-military instability factors are making our security “indivisible”. The region of the South Eastern Europe is in the middle of all the happenings. Therefore, this conference was envisioned to consist of three panels dealing with several important security topics from several project on which ATA Macedonia is working in 2016.

The first panel entitled as “The influence of euro – Atlantic integration over the economy in SEE” addressed the very salient issue for the region of SEEs particularly the advantages and benefits that the integration can bring with it from economic perspective, business opportunities and foreign investments.



Mr. Ramadani, President of Euro-Atlantic Council of Macedonia, opened the conference by affirming Euro-Atlantic values and the role that Euro-Atlantic Council plays in spreading its Agenda. He send a message to all government officials to work together toward full- fledged membership of Republic of Macedonia. Lastly, he made an overview of the topics that will be discussed during the panels and introduced the speakers.



Mr. Maksuti, Deputy Minister of Ministry of Defence welcomed the efforts of the Euro-Atlantic Council working on spreading the euro-atlantic values and stimulating researches that deal with NATO and security issues. He stressed that MoD will continue to support these initiatives that support Macedonian accession in NATO as a pillar for security and stability.

Mr. Zsolt Rabai, Program officer at NATO PDD expressed his gratitude and continued with the challenges that NATO is currently facing. He praised Macedonian efforts in its way to NATO and briefly addressed the global security threats and the NATO policies and strategies to counter them.



Dr. Arian Starova, President of the Atlantic Council of Albania, pointed about learning the lessons from bloody conflicts in the Balkans and investing in good-neighborly relations. For increased regional security he emphasized the importance of regional cooperation, recognition of Kosovo and acceleration of the process of integration of all Balkan countries.



Mr. Besimi,  Former Deputy Prime Minister, outlined the advances that Macedonia made regarding Euro-Atlantic integrations. He underscored the necessity of speeding the process of integration into NATO and EU structures. He said that the most important for Macedonia is to remain active partner and consistent in its commitment in order to achieve full membership.



Mr. Trifun Kostovski, Executive Director of the Business Club of the Euro-Atlantic Council of Macedonia, expressed his concerns about the political crisis in Macedonia that reflects to NATO integration. He stressed the importance of NATO integration from the aspect of economy, business opportunities and the inward investments.



Ms. Angelka Peeva, IMAGE PR, said that Macedonia is small country with big challenges and that's why we should focus on business development as key for prosperity. She underlined the necessity of leadership capacity in our country not only for government officials, but also for the business sector.



Mr. Rafajlowski, VP of the Economic Chamber of Macedonia, laid down the problems that currently occupy the business sector, the challenges that have to be addressed and the importance of networking within the business community.



During the second panel entitled: “Secure the Energy, Secure the Region”, the speakers discussed the challenges that arise from energy deficiency that our region currently faces. The inter-related issues connected with the energy security were also addressed in particular the importance of this issue in respect of the Euro-Atlantic integrations.



The moderator Mr. Viktor Andonov, Secretary General of the Euro-Atlantic Council of Macedonia introduced the second panel by outlining the basic requirements for energy efficiency such as the greater domestic production and lesser import dependence and also the main challenges that affect the energy sector.



Mr. Kanevce, Macedonian academy of sciences and arts (MANU), pointed out several challenges regarding energy security that Macedonia should focus on such as the building of infrastructure, new sources of energy supply and development of market for natural gas. He noted that for attracting investments in the energy sector it is necessary to create an appropriate investment climate.



Mr. Stefan Peter, Chairman of the Management Board of EVN Macedonia was speaking mostly about renewable energy and the barriers that exist regarding energy efficiency. He said that common approach and seeking for global market instead of focusing on local interests is the most salient aspect in order to achieve energy security.



The presentation of Mr. Hadzi Mishev, General Director of the Toplifikacija AD, was focused on renewable energy sources and the main issues that accompany them. He noted that the feasibility of the distribution system depends directly on joining to the distribution systems of the existing facilities.



Mr. Cogelja, Adviser of the Deputy Prime minister for economic affairs, during his speech outlined the goals of achieving energy security, including a greater role and better negotiating position of the EU, diversification of energy sources, reducing greenhouse gases and encouraging renewable energy.

The last panel entitled “The Impact of the Euro-integrative Processes on the Inter-ethnic Relations” was focused on sensitive, but really important issue for the region of SEE. It accentuated the role that the integration can play on improving the inter-ethnic relations and how it would contribute to inter-ethnic community building.

The Moderator of the last panel was Mr. Ilija Djugumanov, President of YATA Macedonia.



According to Dr. Lidija Georgieva, University Professor,  the integration in EU and NATO structures can only bring positive results for the inter-ethnic relations in Macedonia. She said that the integrations can be observed from micro and macro perspective and that every country should intersect both economic and multi-ethnic aspect toward effective integration.



Mr. Rizvan Sulejmani, University Professor, outlined the current trends and perceptions in terms of integration and inter-ethnic relations. His speech also covered the importance of polity and decentralization in inter-ethnic community building.



Mr. Aleksandar Krzalovski, Executive Director at Macedonian Center for International Cooperation, presented several researches and statistics regarding inter-ethnic relations. Summarizing the results of numerous researches regarding public opinions conducted in the previous years in Macedonia, he said that there are trends in amelioration in inter-ethnic relations.



Mr. Albert Musliu, Political Analyst, emphasized that the most important thing in a multi-ethnic community is building common identity according to EU model, but preserving the specifics of every ethnic group. He also underlined the fact that the integrations in the Euro-Atlantic structures will improve the inter-ethnic relations in Macedonia.



Mr. Nano Ruzin, University Professor, he deliberated upon the topic noting that the problem of inter-ethnic relations and the division along ethnic lines is rooted in the Balkan conflicts and in his view it can be overcome only by creating new values and following and spreading the ideas of the Euro-Atlanticism.