Ambassador Branimir Filipovic, Acting Assistant Foreign Minister for security policy participated in the International Conference "Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Light of NATO Cooperation and Partnership", held in Sarajevo on 11 April 2019 and co-hosted by the Centre for Security Studies, Bosnia and Herzegovina Council of Ministers' NATO Integration Process Committee.

The aim of the Conference was to discuss regional security cooperation, particularly as regards phenomena which were traditionally not perceived as security threats, but were instead related to natural and other disasters caused by intensifying climate change. The Conference also examined topics in the context of the NATO Science for Peace and Security (SPS) Programme.

Participating in a panel together with representatives of countries of the region, Ambassador Filipovic pointed to the results achieved so far in the framework of Serbia-NATO partner cooperation, carried out in accordance with Serbia's military neutrality policy by way of an intensified political dialogue and concrete programs through Partnership for Peace in a number of fields. He elaborated in particular on emergency response (flooding, fire, earthquake and other natural disasters) cooperation between Serbia and the Alliance and the "Serbia 2018" consequence management exercise conducted in October 2018, the biggest of its kind organized so far by NATO and a host country. Furthermore, the Acting Assistant Minister underscored Serbia's activities in the framework of the Science for Peace and Security Programme which was of importance for both a wide range of state bodies, and the academia by ensuring a better access to international science projects.

Ambassador Filipovic stressed in particular that events were underway in Serbia commemorating the 1999 NATO bombing of the then Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, an act of aggression against a sovereign country, adding that the victims and suffering would never be forgotten and that the memory of this would never fade away. At the same time, the Acting Assistant Minister pointed out that Serbia looked towards the future with regional peace and stability as a priority, and that it had, to this end, been making a strong contribution in preventing any destabilization and ensuring a lasting stability through bilateral and multilateral cooperation, in which context the partner cooperation with NATO played a role of exceptional importance. Ambassador Filipovic particularly focused attention on the situation in Kosovo and Metohija following the unilateral measures taken by Pristina, thus seriously threatening the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, as well as our expectation that the KFOR Mission's mandate be fully realized in the Province, under UNSC Resolution 1244, thus protecting the Serbian population, their property and cultural and historical heritage.

Representatives present at the conference included MFA Deputy Ministers/State Secretaries or Assistant Ministers in charge of security policy coming from Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of North Macedonia, Republic of Serbia, Republic of Croatia, and from Montenegro, including NATO representatives and members of the academia from BiH and beyond.