The kick-off conference of the EU Twinning project "Improvement of Forest Management in Serbia as a Contribution to Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation" was held in June 2021 at the Club of Parliament Members in Belgrade, combined with the online participation of about 30 participants via the Zoom platform.
The conference was opened by Ms. Vedrana Ilić, Assistant Minister, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management of the Republic of Serbia, followed by welcome remarks by H.E. Sabine Kroissenbrunner, Deputy Ambassador of the Republic of Austria to the Republic of Serbia, H.E. Mr. Fedor Rosocha, Ambassador of Slovakia to the Republic of Serbia, Mr. Sakellaris Hourdas, Head of Operations 3, in the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Serbia. The Conference also be attended by representatives of the diplomatic corps and competent institutions of Austria, Slovakia and Serbia.
Speeches were also given by Ms. Maria Patek, Director General for Forestry and Sustainability, Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Regions and Tourism, Austria and Mr. Michal Tomčík, Director General for Forestry and Timber, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Slovakia, who described the cooperation in sustainable forest management between their countries and Serbia.
In the second part of the conference, Mr. Saša Stamatović, Beneficiary Country Project Leader, Acting Director of the Directorate of Forests, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management of the Republic of Serbia, talked about forests and forest management in Serbia – challenges and perspectives on the road to EU accession. Mr. Peter Mayer, Member State Project Leader, Director of the Austrian Federal Forest Office and the Austrian Research Centre for Forests talked about the EU and international policy making on forests and forest management. Mr. Boris Greguška, Chief State Counsellor, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Slovakia, focused on the lessons learnt from the accession process in Slovakia. The project was presented by Mr. Jozef Turok, Resident Twinning Advisor, and Ms. Ljiljana Sovilj, RTA Counterpart.
