Members of the Security and Defence Committee, Mr Luiđ Ljubo Škrelja and Mr Branko Čavor, participate in a two-day Regional Conference on Emergency Situations, in Belgrade, the Republic of Serbia.

At the gathering that began yesterday, the legal and institutional framework are discussed, as well as the challenges and the key disaster risks in Southeast Europe.

In the introductory address, 0.the Chair of the Conference and the Chairperson of the Defence and Internal Affairs Committee of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, Ms Marija Obradović, stressed that emergency situations represented a new and realistic regional security challenge, and that holding a conference on this topic should constitute an additional impetus for regional cooperation.

During the first panel, the participants exchanged views on regional cooperation in the field of prevention and response to disasters, followed by a session during which representatives of the European Union informed the participants with the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, as well as disaster risk management experiences.

The Conference will also cover issues of strengthening the legal framework, policies and strategies related to emergency management in the countries of the region, and within the topic, the current state and vision of Montenegro will be presented to the participants by a member of the Security and Defense Committee, Mr Luiđ Ljubo Škrelja.

The Conference that was organised in order to intensify regional cooperation and provide the most effective response in cases of natural and other disasters, brought together parliamentarians and representatives of relevant institutions from the countries of the region, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, as well as representatives of the OSCE regional offices and the Embassy of the Kingdom of Sweden in Serbia.