The Central European Forum on Military Education (CEFME) Conference, 25-27 October 2016, Zagreb, Croatia

The Commandant of the Baltic Defence College Major General Andis Dilāns along with Dean Dr Zdzislaw Sliwa and the Head of Commandant’s Office Major Liene Rozenberga attended the Central European Forum on Military Education (CEFME) conference, which was held in Zagreb from 25 to 27 October. It was hosted by the Croatian Military Academy Dr. Franjo Tudjman and the aim was to discuss support for the development of the education and training of professional military personnel and to enhance cooperation between Professional Military Education (PME) universities. The conference was chaired by Lieutenant General Slavko Barić, the Commandant of the Croatian Military Academy and opening remarks were delivered by General Mirko Sundov, the Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia.

The conference was an opportunity to introduce the current status of education in all the CEFME partners’ PME organizations and to consider further cooperation opportunities. During discussion the BALTDEFCOL’s delegation presented an overview of the College’s academic year 2015/2016 highlighting major modifications of curricula of all the courses and introduced lessons learned implemented into current academic year. The successful introduction of the Senior Leader’s Course (SLC) was highlighted including update about the incoming one which is to be focused on the outcome of the Warsaw Summit and its influence on security situation in the Central and East Europe. MG Dilāns encouraged the CEFME partners to participate in academic events which are organized by BALTDEFCOL during ongoing academic year especially the Third Annual Conference on Russia and 8th Annual Baltic Military History Conference.

CEFME is a voluntary association of the military universities in the central European region founded in 2007 on the initiative of the University of Defence, Czech Republic. Next to BALTDEFCOL commandants and staff members of military academies from Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Serbia participated in the conference.