Minister Bozinovic attends Conference on Energy Security

The conference has been held on May 26 – 27 in Zagreb, organized by the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, and co-organized by NATO’s Energy Security Section, Emerging Security Challenges Division.
The conference was also attended by the NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General for emerging security challenges Jamie Shea who gave keynote address.
The conference participants were also addressed by the Defence Minister Davor Bozinovic, who stressed the importance of availability and stability of energy supply and the need to change our attitudes and behaviour regarding the way we consume energy because there was a considerable potential for improving energy efficiency in public, commercial and private sector of energy consumption. Speaking about the energy situation in the region Minister Bozinovic said that the conflicts and instability in Southeast Europe weakened the possibilities of resolving the issue of energy supply, and that after years of stagnation he was a cautious optimist regarding the possibility of strengthening energy security in South-eastern Europe, ensuring that countries of the region put together efforts to strengthen the positive climate for investors and promote the Euro-Atlantic integrations.
The main aim of the Conference is to discuss the emerging security challenges, particularly energy challenges and their impact on security in global terms and in the regional context. The conference involved 76 participants from NATO member countries and NATO partner countries (members of Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, the Mediterranean Dialogue and Istanbul Cooperation Initiative) and national government agencies, as well as representatives from Southeast Europe. The three panels discussed topics related to the consequences and impact of energy security on the security environment, then the future of the security sector, fossil fuels, unconventional and renewable sources of energy. The third panel deals with the approaches of countries of Southeast Europe to energy security, regional threats, and the possibility of multilateral cooperation.