On day two of the 88^th Rose Roth Seminar, during the third session, the participants of the gathering had a discussion on regional cooperation in the Western Balkans, moderated by Mr Paolo Alli, Vice President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, and on the occasion the address was given by: Mr Dimitar Bechev, Senior Visiting Fellow at the European Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science; Mr Janez Kopač, Director of the Energy Community, and Mr Julian Popov, Fellow of the European Climate Foundation.

The fourth session of the Seminar was dedicated to the topic “Foreign Fighters in the Middle East and North Africa: Common Challenge”, moderated by Mr Julio Miranda Calha, General Rapporteur of the NATO PA Committee on Defence and Security, while the participants of the gathering were addressed by: Mr Aleksandar Đorđević, Director of the Security Intelligence Agency of the Republic of Serbia; Mr Sulejman Ugljanin, member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, President of the National Bosniak Council; Mr Esad Hećimović, Editor at OBN TV Sarajevo, and Mr Raffaello Pantucci, Director of International Security Studies at RUSI. Within the panel session, a discussion was held on the topic dedicated, in most part, to the issues of: cause of phenomena of fighters going in foreign battlefields and measures for punishing this, the danger it holds, sources of motivation behind it, issues of finding effective mechanisms for combating and preventing it, as well as the importance of finding a transnational solution for timely resolution of this issue, etc.

The part of the gathering dedicated to the topic “The fight against corruption and organised crime in the Western Balkans” was moderated by Mr José Lello, Chairperson of the Political Committee, followed by the addresses by: Mr Nebojša Stefanović, Minister of the Interior of the Republic of Serbia; Mr Goran Svilanović, Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council, and Ms Sonja Stojanović-Gajić, Director of Belgrade Centre for Security Policy.

During the sixth session on the topic “Reform of Defence Management and Building Integrity”, the discussion was led by Mr Simon Lunn, Senior Research Fellow at the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces and former Secretary General of the NATO PA, and, on this occasion, the participants of the gathering were addressed by: Mr Alberto Bin, Director of Integration, Partnerships and Cooperation Directorate at Political Affairs and Security Policy Division of NATO; Mr Todor Tagarev, Senior Associate Fellow of Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces, and Brigadier General Mr Slobodan Joksimović, Head of Administration for Strategic Planning at the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Serbia.

The 88^th Rose-Roth Seminar of the NATO PA has gathered around 200 participants, including parliamentarians from the NATO and partner states, representatives of governments, international organisations, NGO sector, universities, and representatives of public opinion.

The Seminar continues its work tomorrow.