The Belgrade Security Conference BSC 2024 is officially open!

The conference was opened by Srđan Cvijić, President of the International Advisory Committee of the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy. His speech began with a reference to Gramschi who said that “The Old world is dying and the new world is struggling to be Born, and we are surrounded by monsters”. Mr Cvijić expressed that the monsters of our time are Autocracy, Nationalism and Polarisation, which cause the new generations to grow up in uncertainty. In response to this he asked us not to despair, and to use this last moment to rise up in the defence of humanity.

 

 

Mr. Cvijić reminded the audience that the BCSP came into being in 1997. And was founded by army officers who refused to fight in the civil war, evolving into one of the largest think thanks for foreign and security policy. The basic values of the organisation are Peace, Democracy and Human rights, which have been reflected in the conference, which this year is even more ambitious as it has turned into a Regional event.

 

 

Continuing his speech, Mr. Cvijić warned that any attempts to compromise on fundamental values threatens to awaken the monsters of history and drag us back into dark times. He expanded this by saying that there can be no peace internationally with autocracy at home, as hybrid regimes are just a stage in the process of the destruction of democracy. This means that there can be no lasting peace with such regimes, just shaky interregnums, because the more tyrannies there are, the more likely there is to be war.

 

 

He continued by reflecting on the symbolism of holding the conference at the Sava centre, which hosted the Conference on Security and Cooperation Europe, after the founding conference in Helsinki . he did this by dedicating it to Mr. Loncar, one of the architects of the Non aligned movement and the driving force between Yugoslavia’s attempts to join the European Economic Community.

 

 

At the end, he highlighted the Young leaders program of the conference, which brought together 30 young people form the region, investing in those who will carry the torch in the region into the future. He finished with a quote by Peter Zweig that “it is not evil and brutality, but weakness that is to blame for the worst things that happen in the world” , warning that weakness is our biggest enemy, and that we must not allow ourselves to be weak, as well all have a role in the fight for peace and democracy.