Visit of the representatives of RACVIAC to USA

RACVIAC delegation, MG (ret.) Bazo, Director, COL Öztürk, CSE Pillar Programme Manager and Mr Mandić, C-WMD Leader paid a visit from 6th to 10th September 2021 to the USA. The purpose of the visit was to solidify and enhance the longterm cooperation between the U.S. Government and RACVIAC in achieving broader C-WMD cooperation in SEE as well as to explore cooperation opportunities in conducting Arms Control activities.

During the first day RACVIAC delegation was welcomed by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) acting Director Dr. Rhys M. Williams and DTRA SES members, Dr Robert Pope and Mr David L. Musgrave, with whose teams it discussed topics such as the elimination of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and related materials, prevention of the spread of especially dangerous diseases and the fulfilment of Arms Control treaties obligations.

In the afternoon hours the Department of State (DoS) delegation joined the RACVIAC and DTRA team to engage in discussions on contemporary C-WMD challenges with a focus on SEE and the existing and future regional cooperation in the C-WMD field.

On the second day RACVIAC team visited FBI HQ where they met with the representatives of WMD Directorate to explore possible future cooperation. The two sides discussed a number of WMD topics such as WMD Cybercrime, Counterproliferation Finance, International Dual Use Investigations and International Bio Terrorism. RACVIAC Director took the opportunity to thank the FBI personnel on their previous generous involvements in RACVIAC. After the meeting RACVIAC delegation had a working lunch with Allison Johnston, Director of the Office of International Security at the National Nuclear Security Administration in the Department of Energy. During the lunch RACVIAC team engaged in dialogue on joint plans to implement nuclear security training including best practices and technical exchanges.

During the third day RACVIAC delegation was honoured to be welcomed by Honorable Judge Richard Stearns at the U. S. District Court, District of Massachusetts. After a short debate on the importance of the rule of law RACVIAC Director thanked Honorable Judge Stearns for long-term cooperation and the knowledge he has cascaded to the SEE region through RACVIAC.

On the last day of the USA visit RACVIAC Director delivered a speech at Boston College on the topic of Regional Cooperation and Euro-Atlantic Integration to a group of senior international students. After the speech there was productive feedback from the audience and MG (ret.) Bazo and Honorable Judge Stearns answered many interesting and mind-provoking questions posed by the students.

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