{"id":28592,"date":"2023-05-05T10:13:25","date_gmt":"2023-05-05T10:13:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/idscs.org.mk\/?p=28592"},"modified":"2023-05-31T10:17:42","modified_gmt":"2023-05-31T10:17:42","slug":"idscs-organised-the-panel-discussion-crisis-prevention-and-management-with-critical-infrastructure-in-the-western-balkans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/idscs.org.mk\/en\/2023\/05\/05\/idscs-organised-the-panel-discussion-crisis-prevention-and-management-with-critical-infrastructure-in-the-western-balkans\/","title":{"rendered":"IDSCS organised the panel discussion \u201cCrisis Prevention and Management with Critical Infrastructure in the Western Balkans\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Institute for Democracy \u201cSocietas Civilis\u201d \u2013 Skopje (IDSCS) on May 4th in Skopje organized the panel discussion \u201cCrisis prevention and management of critical infrastructure in Western Balkans \u201c. At the event, the paper \u201cCrisis prevention and critical infrastructure in Western Balkans\u201d<\/a> was presented by prominent Western Balkan experts.<\/p>\n

The welcoming remarks were delivered by Marko Troshanovski<\/strong>, president of the Institute for Democracy and Vladimir Anchev<\/strong>, State Secretary at the Ministry of Defence of North Macedonia.<\/p>\n

Troshanovski welcomed the attendees and in his remarks he talked about the main motivation behind the project and the importance of critical infrastructure.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday’s topic of critical infrastructure is extremely important. Currently, the Ministry of Defence<\/em> is in the process of preparing a law on critical infrastructure where the Institute for Democracy is part of the working group. T<\/em>he sustainability of critical<\/em> infrastructure, from cyber security to the maintenance of irrigation systems, road infrastructure, the entire physical infrastructure is of vital importance for the social and economic benefit of the community<\/em>\u201d stated Troshanovski.<\/p>\n

Anchev talked the position of the Ministry of Defence in the regulation of critical infrastructure and stressed the importance of discussion among all affected sides of society.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Ministry of Defence in North Macedonia has been a proponent of norms for many years, which is connected to the entire system of crisis management. Among other things, it was discussed for the first time at the level of government of the Republic of North Macedonia to regulate the critical infrastructure as such. So far in our country, there has been no legal solution, no legal competence of any state institution that will deal with the critical infrastructure. We are trying to have a wider consultation with many more stakeholders so that we don’t rush it and not to make the existing system worse. The Law on Critical Infrastructure is in its final stage<\/em>\u201d said Anchev.<\/p>\n

Vasko Popovski<\/strong>, disaster risk management, crisis management, urban resilience, social innovation and development expert, Donika Emini<\/strong>, executive director of the CiviKos Platform and member of Balkan Research Centre, Aleksandar Kovacevikj<\/strong>, researcher at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies (OIES) and Anamarija Velinovska, <\/strong>researcher at IDSCS shared their perspective on the topic of critical infrastructure<\/p>\n

Each of the panelists provided an overview of their national contexts in the countries of the Western Balkan and presented a formulation of forward-looking recommendations aimed at supporting the efforts for building the resilience of the critical infrastructure to crises and disasters. Popovski<\/em> provided a detailed overview of the overall critical infrastructure framework and concluded by saying that even though the national contexts and the countries crisis and disaster risk management systems are various, the regional approach in this resilience-building endeavor is the modus operandi for intensifying these activities and contributing to the safer, more secure and resilient Western Balkans. Emini<\/em> briefed on the Kosovo efforts for building the resilience of the critical infrastructure and pointed out that we need to shift the paradigm of critical infrastructure from risk to resilience and from protection to building resilience.\u00a0Kovacevikj<\/em> shared his perspective on Serbia\u2019s national disaster management and he provided an essential input by saying that there are limited capacities and knowledge to develop and implement critical infrastructure resilience-building-related policies. Velinovska,<\/em> touched upon the topic of pandemic management and lessons learned for a more secure future. Presenting the North Macedonian perspective, Velinovska<\/em> emphasized that even though North Macedonia went on a good start in crisis-management, the subsequent developments related to procurement, vaccines, private health providers and scandals within the public health care system unveiled great gaps in the county\u2019s management abilities.<\/p>\n

The panels were moderated and concluding remarks were delivered by Mr Zoran Nechev<\/strong>, Head of the Centre for EU integration within IDSCS.<\/p>\n

The \u2018Enhancing Think Balkans \u2013 knowledge hub for Western Balkans EU integration and regional cooperation\u201d project is financially supported by the\u00a0International Visegrad Fund<\/a>\u00a0and builds upon the previously established cooperation between the members of the Southeast European Think Net Network (SEE Think Net) and Think Visegrad as part of the\u00a0\u2018Regional cooperation in the Western Balkans: The Berlin Process and Visegrad Group in comparison project\u2019<\/a>\u00a0and the project \u201cCooperation Instrument for the Western Balkans Think Tanks \u2013 THINK BALKANS\u201d<\/a>\u00a0supported by the\u00a0International Visegrad Fund<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The project is implemented by Institute for Democracy (IDSCS), in collaboration with\u00a0the\u00a0European Movement in Serbia (EMinS)<\/a>,\u00a0Balkan Research Institute\u00a0from Kosovo*,\u00a0Politikon Network<\/a>\u00a0from Montenegro,\u00a0Albanian Institute for International Studies (AIIS)<\/a>\u00a0from Albania,\u00a0Humanity in Action<\/a>\u00a0from Bosnia and Herzegovina,\u00a0Centre for Eastern Studies (OSW)<\/a>\u00a0from Poland,\u00a0Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade (IFAT)<\/a>\u00a0from Hungary, the\u00a0Research Centre of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association (RC SFPA)<\/a>\u00a0from Slovakia, and\u00a0EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy (EUROPEUM)<\/a>\u00a0from the Czech Republic, will work in achieving the project\u2019s goals.<\/p>\n

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\u201cCrisis prevention and critical infrastructure in Western Balkans\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

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