In April 2024, GÉANT’s CEO Erik Huizer embarked on a week-long tour through the South-East Europe (SEE) region to meet partners of local Research and Education Networks, strengthen their role with funding ministries and explore new avenues for collaboration.
This extensive journey covered over 1200 kilometres, five countries, four GÉANT member organisations and engaged more than twenty Bosnian-Herzegovinian stakeholders. GÉANT’s CEO was chaperoned by the GÉANT project regional coordinator Anastas Mishev and supported by GÉANT’s partner relation manager for the SEE region, Marina De Giorgi. Travelling by car allowed the group to get first-hand experience of the local realities of GÉANT partners and to enjoy the beautiful and mostly unspoiled landscapes, while also keeping the trip both timely and more sustainable compared to flying.
In this article, Marina recounts the first part of the journey, covering visits in Serbia and Bosnia Herzegovina, the SEE Forum and GÉANT Info-day. [Read part 2 here, covering stops in Montenegro, North Macedonia and Kosovo*]
Day 1: Serbia – Collaboration in Belgrade
Our visit in the SEE region kicked off in Belgrade by meeting Bojan Jakovljevic, director of the Serbian NREN AMRES with his delegates Andrijana Todosijevic and Nikola Gacesa who introduced us to the Serbian Ministry of Information and Telecommunications in his office near park Kalemegdan.
Following introductions, the Minister and his team took the floor, highlighting the crucial importance of AMRES in the development of Serbian research and education and reinforcing their commitment to support the NREN’s growth. Personally, it felt refreshing to witness the familiarity and close relationship between AMRES and the Ministry, as well as their clear knowledge and understanding of each other’s priorities.

The small GÉANT delegation and AMRES leadership staff were then invited by the Minister and his cabinet for an official lunch overlooking the majestic Sava River. This was an opportunity to relax and chat about the state of the region and ambition of the country, other than about Belgrade’s fascinating architecture.
Our five-course lunch ended just in time for all of us to go back to our commitments – visiting the AMRES office for a periodic review of GÉANT services and to meet the whole NREN staff. There, we even found out about a fundamental element influencing their collegial atmosphere and passion: the office football table! We took a note to share this finding with the wider GÉANT community.
Day 2: University of Sarajevo, Bosnia Herzegovina

Our second day began with an early start, as Anastas took the wheel, driving us safely towards Bosnia Herzegovina. Waiting for us in rainy Sarajevo, was GÉANT Chief Collaboration Officer Paul Rouse, who came along to visit the Vice Rector of the University of Sarajevo and his team.
The meeting was a traditional GÉANT service review, aimed at assessing service usage and the future of GÉANT’s peering with the Tele-Informatics Center of the University. Of course, Paul and I also used the opportunity to remind the institution’s representatives to join us the following day.
Day 3: SEE Directors Forum meets Bosnian-Herzegovinian stakeholders in Sarajevo
The third day of our trip was entirely dedicated to a GÉANT Info-day and SEE Directors Forum, organised in collaboration with the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC). Directors and representatives of South-East European Research and Education Networks were invited to come to Sarajevo to engage Bosnian-Herzegovinian stakeholders, assess the support needed, and share lessons learned, both in their role locally and as part of the broader GÉANT community. Numerous directors, deputies and decision makers from universities and organisations in the region joined discussions, thanks to the involvement of the RCC and exceptional support of Sinisa Maric and his team.

The Info-day kicked off with greetings from host Pranvera Kastrati, Head of Programme at the RCC, who remarked the fundamental importance of innovation, research infrastructure and digitalisation for the integration of the Western Balkans into the European Union. Following suit, GÉANT’s CEO took the word to highlight how some of the major challenges our world is facing – as climate change, overpopulation, scarcity of food, energy and materials – can only be addressed through global collaboration of researchers, teachers, and students, and explained how GÉANT and the NRENs facilitate and enable this exchange.
In his role of regional coordinator, Anastas Mishev introduced SEE Research and Education Networks ARNES, AMRES, CARNET, MARnet, MREN, KREN, CYNET and RASH, emphasizing how their different business and governance models coexist and how political, local and regional conditions contribute to shape each organisation differently. All GÉANT members took the chance to elicit stakeholders in Bosnia Herzegovina to find a sustainable solution for their national R&E community to join the GÉANT Association.
After a lunch kindly offered by the RCC, we moved to a roundtable discussion supported by Sinisa Maric, where George Konnis, GÉANT Board member and Managing Director of CYNET, together with GÉANT’s CEO and SEE regional coordinators, addressed questions from attendees. The event closed with a wish to soon welcome a representative of Bosnia Herzegovina in the GÉANT General Assembly.
On the road again

Back in the car, a guest joined us for the following section of the journey: the deputy director of RASH Elisantila Gaci, who seized the opportunity to travel back to Albania with us. As we safely passed our third border check, we hoped to have brightened up the day for the border control officers, amused to see this unusual group formed of a Macedonian, a Dutch, an Italian, and an Albanian. They definitely didn’t overlook checking our passports thoroughly!

During our four-hour journey to Montenegro, we reflected on the GÉANT Info-day we had just wrapped up. Overall, we regarded the event as a significant step in demonstrating GÉANT’s commitment to supporting Bosnia Herzegovina, and felt we accomplished our aim of fostering and reinforcing regional R&E collaboration, connecting organisations on a technical level, and aligning their ambitions.
In the following episode of this travel report of our journey in the SEE Region, we visit Montenegro, stop by in North Macedonia and end up our journey in Kosovo*. Read it here: https://connect.geant.org/2024/07/31/geants-ceo-visit-in-south-east-europe-strengthening-re-collaboration-in-the-region-and-supporting-colleagues-in-bosnia-herzegovina-part-2
*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.