BELGRADE, Serbia – Organized by Allied Joint Force Command Naples, the fifth Balkan Liaison Working Group (BLWG) meeting was conducted in Serbia, Feb. 24, 2016.
 
BLWG is a meeting devised to share ideas, exchange information, discuss common concerns and find synergies between the NATO offices in Belgrade, Sarajevo and Skopje.

The fifth meeting was conducted with 18 participants including German Army Brigadier General Reinhard Kloss, JFC Naples Assistant Chief of Staff - J9 Military Partnership Branch; Italian Army Brigadier General Cesare Marinelli, Chief of Military Liaison Office in Belgrade; U.S. Army Brigadier General Giselle Wilz, Commander of NATO Headquarters in Sarajevo; Bulgarian Navy Captain Rumen Radev, Chief of NATO Liaison Office in Skopje; and other representatives from Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, JFC Naples, Kosovo Force (KFOR) NATO Liaison and Advisory Team, KFOR NATO Advisory Team and the three Balkan offices.

The main session of the working group was conducted with topics of discussion such as Balkans country updates, review of Terms of Reference, migrant issues and the REACH Communication System.

"All the objectives established have been reached,” said Brig. Gen. Kloss during open discussions. It was suggested the next working group be conducted before the summer break in Sarajevo.

Brig. Gen. Kloss also met with the Chief of International Military Cooperation Department of Serbian Minister of Defense, Navy Captain Milan Konjikovac. The latter expressed the will for further cooperation and underlined his deep satisfaction regarding the Expert Staff Meeting held in Naples on Feb. 2, 2016.

Story and photo by Allied Joint Force Command Naples J9 Military Partnership Branch