Marshall Center conference draws Balkan security experts
June 19-21, 2007
Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina — Security experts from a dozen countries gathered here to examine the progress of police, judicial, and defense reform during the Security Sector Reforms in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Western Balkans conference held June 19-21.
NATO Director of Force Planning Frank Boland (left) answers a participant’s question. Boland is seen with the Chief of the Transition Management Group NATO HQ in Sarajevo Rohan Maxwell and Conference Moderator and NATO Political Advisor to NATO HQ Sarajevo Bruce McLane.
The George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies sponsored conference was co-hosted in conjunction with the United States Office of Defense Cooperation in Sarajevo.
Participants, speakers and observers came from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Canada, Croatia, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Montenegro, Norway, Serbia, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. Featured speakers included Major General (Retired) Dr. Horst Schmalfeld, the Marshall Center's German Deputy Director who welcomed the 50-plus participants; United States Ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina Douglas McElhaney, who opened the event; International Judges Manfred Dauster and Finn Lynghjem, who discussed Judicial Reform; Brigadier Vincenzo Coppola, who discussed the urgent need for police reform; the Director of Force Planning at NATO HQ in Brussels Frank Boland; and Dr. Jeffery Simon, Senior Research Fellow at the U.S. National Defense University in Washington DC, who discussed defense and security sector reforms within the larger context of the way ahead. The conference was highlighted by keynote speaker Michael Giffoni, the Head of the Western Balkans Task Force, the Council of the European Union in Brussels and closed by German Ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina Michael Schmunk.
The conference examined the progress of national security institution building in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Western Balkans. Subjects included intelligence and military institutions, ensuring strong civilian management and control of the national security mechanism, and the restructuring of criminal justice, including police, border guard, judicial, and penal institutions. The conference focused on post-conflict security sector reform, concentrating primarily on rebuilding national security mechanisms and institutions, which often must be accomplished within a somewhat chaotic post-conflict environment involving the disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration of former combatants and their victims.
The conference meet in both plenary and working groups sessions, with separate panels addressing judicial, police and defense reforms in Bosnia-Herzegovina within the context of the greater Western Balkans. Discussions included NATO and EU absorption capacity, regional reform fatigue, and the lack of a single integrated approach to security sector reform for South Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans, with international and intergovernmental organizations such as NATO, the EU, OSCE, and UNDP all contributing guidance and advice based on their own respective needs and perspectives. Participants agreed with the need to better balance local process and product ownership, which often places emphasis on nation-unique, almost tailored solutions, with the need to develop a single integrated approach to security sector reform throughout the region, emphasizing the need for meaningful benchmarking to measure progress.
Text: By Joe Ferrare - George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies
