INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR SECURITY AND COOPERATION

The Institute is a Non-Governmental Organization - an association carrying out activity for public benefit. Its structure and functions are in conformity with the Law on Non-profit Legal Entities in the Republic of Bulgaria.

Main goals of the Institute

  • Support the strengthening of international and regional security;
  • Contribute to the enhancement of effective regional cooperation in the field of cross-border crime and terrorism counteraction, management of international crises and conflicts, energy security, environment protection, and migration processes.
  • Support the development of cooperation in international security at different levels and areas of public life.

Activities of the Institute

  • Provision of expert assistance to international and national institutions and organizations in drawing up policies, strategies, action plans, and draft laws in fields related to the goals of the association;
  • Organization and conduct of international, regional and national conferences, round tables, seminars and other public events;
  • Participation in the development and implementation of international and national initiatives and projects related to the goals of the association;
  • Publication of reports, analyses, studies and other materials, related to the association's goals;
  • Development of cooperation and partnership with international, foreign and national institutions and organizations working in the field of international security and regional cooperation;
  • Organization of events, including publications in mass media, to raise the awareness to the problems of international security and cooperation and their prevention globally;
  • Work with non-governmental organizations on issues of international security and cooperation;
  • Participation in the elaboration of analyses, projects and programmes on issues of international security and cooperation, human rights and environment protection;
  • Conduct of any other activities related to the association's goals which are not prohibited by the law.

Means to achieve the goals of the Institute

  • Exchange of information, elaboration of analyses, projects and programmes;
  • Conduct of scientific research independently and jointly with international and local institutes and organizations;
  • Joint publication of monographs, studios, etc.;
  • Conduct of scientific forums of any kind related to the association's goals;
  • Consultations to persons and organizations on issues related to the individual's security, cross-border crime prevention, and human rights protection internationally;
  • Joint participation with other people and organizations /local and international/ in all activities contributing to the realization of the association's goals;
  • Development and participation in national and international projects and programmes related to security;

Bodies of the Institute

The General Meeting /GM/ is the supreme body of the association and the Managing Board is the managing body:

The general meeting comprises of all members of the association. The members of the association take part in the general meeting personally or by proxy. 

The Institute is managed and represented by a Managing Board /MB/. The MB comprises of five members - natural persons or legal entities, members of the association, elected by the General Meeting for a term of five years.

The Managing Board elects a Chairperson, a deputy Chairperson and a Chief Executive Officer among its members.

For concrete activities and projects of the Institute the Managing Board may establish working groups, consultative committees, and draw in experts to assist the activity of the Institute.

The Institute was established on 15th October 2008 in Sofia, Republic of Bulgaria. Its founding members are:

  1. Ambassador Robert S. Gelbard - USA, Chairman of Washington Global Partners - consulting firm, specialized in crisis management and risk analysis, former US Ambassador to Bolivia and Indonesia;
  2. Brian Michael Jenkins - USA, Senior Advisor to the president of RAND Corporation on political violence and terrorism issues;
  3. Liubomir Mihajlovski - Republic of Macedonia, politician, Minister of Interior of the Republic of Macedonia 2004 - 2006;
  4. Rodolfo Peikov - Italy, former DEA employee in Rome, member of AFFNA and NEOA;
  5. Prof. Rumen Markov, PhD - Bulgaria, Rector of the Academy of the Ministry of Interior;
  6. Prof. Svetla Toshkova - Bulgaria, Chief of Cabinet of the Vice-President of the Republic of Bulgaria;
  7. Rumen Petkov - Bulgaria, Member of Parliament, Minister of Interior 2005 - 2008;
  8. Goran Yonov - Bulgaria, Ambassador, Deputy Minister of Interior 2007 - 2008 г., foreign Policy and Security Secretary to the President of the Republic of Bulgaria;
  9. Assoc. prof. Kamen Penkov, PhD - Bulgaria, Deputy Minister of Interior 2005 - 2008;
  10. A Reserve Officer, General Valentin Petrov - Bulgaria, Director of National Service "Fight Against Organized Crime" 2004 - 2005, Director of National Service "Police" 2005 - 2007, Chief Secretary of the Ministry of Interior 2007 - 2008;
  11. A Reserve Officer, General Shandor Pinter - Hungary, Minister of Interior 1998 - 2002;
  12. Abdulkadir Aksu - Turkey, Member of Parliament of Turkey, Minister of Interior 1989 - 1991 and 2002-2007;
  13. Dimitar Sabev - diplomat, man of law, consul, academician of the Security, defense and law order Academy of the Russian Federation.

During the next session of the General Assembly unanimously adopted members were:

  1. Dragutin Mate - During the period 12.2004 - 11.2008 he served as a Minister of Internal Affairs of Republic of Slovenia; 07.2006 - 12.2008 - President of the Salzburg forum, Management and coordination of the forum.
  2. Alexander Torshin -  is associate professor, candidate of legal sciences. Currently occupies the post of First Vice President of the Federation Council. Member of the Committee of the Council of Federations on regulation and organization of parliamentary activity. Member of the Committee of the Council of Federations on Information Policy.
  3. Center for Strategic Studies in Security and Defense to the department  ‘National and Regional Security" of the University of National and World Economy (UNWE) was established with Decision AC № 6/24.09.2008 of the Academic Council of UNWE, with statute of main service unit of the UNWE and the ‘National and Regional Security' department. Statute Regulations for the work of the Center were approved.
  4. Dr. Ely Karmon is Senior Research Scholar at The International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) and Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Policy and Strategy at The Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) in Herzliya, Israel.

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