The two-day national workshop (20-21 September) on the response of the institutions of the Republic of Serbia to emergency security event with radioactive and nuclear materials finished today. The focus of the workshop was to present the capacities of the institutions in the Republic of Serbia to responds to a scenario including smuggling of the radioactive material across the national border and the terrorist threats using radioactive material.

Besides the international experts from Germany, France and Hungary, the participants in the workshop were the representatives of the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Defense, Customs Administration, Security Intelligence Agency, Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences, Faculty of Sciences of Novi Sad, as well as Serbian Radiation and Nuclear Safety and Security Directorate.

The participants were greeted and welcomed by Sladjan Velinov, Director of Serbian Radiation and Nuclear Safety and Security Directorate. He said that “the Republic of Serbia, as a Member State of the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency, and as a signatory to a number of the international resolutions and conventions related to security issues, non-proliferation and combating terrorism, is fully committed to forestall any criminal activities with radioactive and nuclear material, both, within its national borders and in the other states.” Velinov also stated that the Directorate, as the national regulatory body responsible for the development of the regulatory framework and the coordination of nuclear and radiation safety activities, is, at all times, at the disposal of all the other state authorities whose aim is to strengthen the national capacities and improve the overall security systems in the Republic of Serbia.

Building a sustainable system of radiation and nuclear safety and security, as well as its continuous improvement commensurate with the European and international standards, development of legislative and institutional framework and human and technical capacities, should be taken as a priority in all relevant state institutions in this field. The organization of the workshops of this kind, with the exchange of experience and the acquisition of new knowledge, is a small but significant step towards enhancing security in the Republic of Serbia, concluded Sladjan Velinov.

The national workshop – Response to emergency security event was organized by the EC Joint Research Centre, and supported by Serbian Radiation and Nuclear Safety and Security Directorate and the Faculty of Sciences of Novi Sad.