On invitation of the Austrian MoD, this year’s annual planning workshop of the RSGBSA WG convened in Reichenau, Austria from 5th to 8th November 2010. Twenty experts attended from Armenia, Austria, Bulgaria, Georgia, Germany, Romania, Turkey, Ukraine, USA and NATO.

  After a review of past activities, the working group focused on the way ahead. They exchanged lessons learned and shared best practices with representatives of the RSSEE SG, deciding to deepen their cooperation in the future. Both working groups agreed to hold a joint workshop in April 2012 in Austria.

They developed an agenda for the 4th MCT on organized crime and its impact on regional stability to be held in Turkey (4-8 July, 2011) in cooperation with Kadir Has University Istanbul. Secondly, the options for a multinational MCT on HRM were discussed with the Armenian representative.

Finally, the working group decided to realign its approach to regional stability and use its activities in 2011 to transition into a new format of policy-oriented dialogue between practitioners, defense academics and representatives of civil societies with a view to pursuing a mutual exchange of ideas, in a comprehensive setting and with a focus on relevant topics of the region.

A visit of the Military-historical Museum in Vienna and a Diner at a traditional “Heurigen” concluded a very successful weekend.