EU Presidency Conference on Security Sector Reform in the Western Balkans

This conference was organised in Vienna by the Austrian Federal Ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs, in association with DCAF (Geneva) and the EU Institute for Security Studies (Paris). It was attended by nearly two hundred participants from EU member states, candidate states and potential candidates from the Western Balkans, as well as from the EU and various international organisations and research institutes.

Words of Welcome
Chair: Wolfgang Wosolsobe, Defence Policy Director, Austrian Ministry of Defence
Günther Platter, Federal Minister of Defence, Austria
Judy Batt, Senior Research Fellow, European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS)
Theodor Winkler, Director, Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF)

Keynote Addresses:
Wolfgang Petritsch, Ambassador, former High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina
Pedro Serrano, Director, DGE IX, Civilian Crisis Management, General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union

Panel I: Conceptual Basis for EU Security Sector Reform Activities
Chair: David Law, Senior Research Fellow, DCAF
Roland Zinzius, Deputy Head, Civil/Military Cell, EU Military Staff
Stefano Sannino, Principal Advisor, DG RELEX, European Commission Representative to the Political and Security Committee
Paul Eavis, Director, SaferWorld

Panel II: SSR Perspectives from the Region - Security Concerns and Needs
Chair: Joseph Marko, Professor, Karl-Franzens-University, Graz
Zeljko Grubesic, Advisor for Defence and Security Matters, Parliamentary Assembly, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bajram Ibraj, General Director, State Police, Albania
Pavle Jankovic, President, International and Security Affairs Centre (ISAC), Serbia and Montenegro
Nikola Prokopenko, Head, Courts and Public Prosecution Office, Ministry of Justice, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

Panel III: EU SSR Activities in the Western Balkans - Lessons Learned and Future Perspectives
Chair: Willem van Eekelen, Senator, Dutch Parliament, former Secretary General of the WEU
Torbjörn Sohlström, Personal Representative of the EU SG/HR in Kosovo
Martin Ney, Senior Deputy High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina

Panel IV: Other Important Actors in the Field of SSR
Chair: Thomas Hajnoczi, Director for Security Policy, Austrian MFA
Susan Pond, Head, Partnership for Peace and Cooperation Programmes, Political and Security Policy Division, NATO
Heinz Vetschera, Deputy Head of Mission, EUMM (Sarajevo); Former Deputy Director, Department for Security Co-operation, OSCE Mission to BiH
Tony Welch, Co-ordinator for the Kosovo Internal Security Sector Review, UNMIK
Kim Traavik, Ambassador, Special Advisor, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Pieter Verbeek, Director, Working Table III: Security, Stability Pact

Parallel Working Groups
Working Group A: Conceptual Basis for EU SSR Activities - Enhancing Cross-pillar Co-ordination within the EU
Chair: David Law, Senior Research Fellow, DCAF
Inger Buxton, DG RELEX, European Commission
Christophe Deherre, Civil/Military Cell, EU Military Staff
Working Group B: Lessons Learned in the Western Balkans and Future Perspectives
Chair: Torbjörn Sohlström, Personal Representative of the EU SG/HR in Kosovo
Istvan Gyarmati, Senior Political Advisor, DCAF
Predrag Jurekovic, Senior Analyst, Institute for Peace Support and Conflict Management, Austrian National Defence Academy