From the 15th to the 17th June 2021, a delegation of the Euro - Atlantic Council of North Macedonia con-sisted of Mr. Ilija Djugumanov, Secretary General and Ms. Dina Arnaut, Chairman of the Supervisory Board attended the 16th edition of the GLOBSEC Forum in Bratislava, Slovakia.



The GLOBSEC Forum has established itself as the leading platform in the Central and Eastern European region and is one of the top strategic conferences globally. Hundreds of influential political representatives, business leaders, experts from leading global think-tanks and NGOs, heads of international organizations, thinkers and innovators gather each year at GLOBSEC Forum to actively shape the future.

H.E.Zuzana Čaputová, president of the Slovak Re-public opened this year’s Forum and emphasized the need for talks about deep changes and strategic conversations. His Holiness Pope Francis addressed the participants and welcomed the important debates on rebuilding the world better and also stressed the urgency of dealing with economic, ecological and political issues. The president of the Republic of Poland, H.E. Andrzej Duda said that he is hopeful that the pandemic will come to an end soon and that future generations will be able to prevent such a crisis from happening in the future. The official welcome and the last keynote remarks were presented by the president of the Republic of Croatia, H.E. Zoran Milanovic.

The panels on the first day of the Forum covered key subjects such as: Global Trade as the Key of Eco-nomic Recovery, Transatlantic Relationship Between the US and EU, New Age of Pandemic, Power Com-petition, The Future of Defense, Defining Resilient Europe and Democracy in the Digital Space. The list of speakers included prominent names such as: Wilhelm Molterer, Susan Danger, Marko Cadez, Carl Bildt, Jan Havarnek, H.E. Eduard Heger, H.E. Karl Havlicek, H.E. Sebastian Kurz and many more.

On the second day it was discussed on Positioning of the EU as a Global Actor, Lessons Learned from the Pandemic, Towards EU that Delivers, Strategic Autonomy vs. Global Supply, Geopolitical Europe at Crossrodads, Big Tech, Climate Change and Global Security, Artificial Intelligence, Political Extremism, Digital Economy in CEE, Future of EU and EU Cli-mate Diplomacy, The New Transatlantic Agenda, Restoring Trust in Politics and Civil Society. Some of the panelists on this second day were H.E. Ivan Korcok, Marina Sereni, H.E. Alexander Schallenberg, Martin Klus, Monika Hohlmeier, H.E. Anze Logar, H.E. Gordan Grlic - Radman, Miroslav Lajcak, H.E. Bujar Osmani, Matus Vallo, H.E. Veronika Remisova, H.E. Jakub Kulhanek, Gen. John Allen, Richard Wike and Francis Fukuyama.



The last day of the GLOBSEC Forum 2021 started with a session on EU and NATO in Post - Pandemic World, followed by topics like Cybersecurity, 5G Fu-ture, Regenerating Democracies, Global Democratic Agenda and NATO 2030 with Damon Wilson, Kolinda Grabar - Kitarovic, Amb. Baiba Braze, H.E. Radmila Sekerinska and Robert Vass, among others.

ATA North Macedonia’s delegation had the unique opportunity to participate in both open and closed sessions and meetings, as well as to discuss with some of the most important political figures in the re-gion and beyond. During these three days they at-tended more than 30 sessions, 6 side events and had meetings with stakeholders such as Mr. Miroslav Lajcak, EU Special Representative for the Belgrade - Pristina dialogue and Western Balkans, Mr. Vladimir Bilcik and Ms. Zeljana Zovko, both members of the EU Parliament and also with H.E. Bujar Osmani, Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia.

Mr. Djugumanov used his stay in Bratislava to visit the office of the Visegrad Fund and the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic with the aim of lobbying for future possibilities and projects of the Euro - Atlantic Council, but also actively promoting North Macedonia.

This event gathered more than 100 speakers of high -level profiles and more than 1000 in - person and virtual participants from the world. The GLOBSEC Forum is traditionally being held in Bratislava and is one of the five best security conferences in the world.

More information on this event at www.globsec.org