The first conference of the Gaming Initiative this year (GI – I Meeting) took place in Sanremo, Italy, from April 7 to April 10, 2022. Out of a total of 11 member countries, 10 participated, with only the representatives of Romania absent. Slovakia was represented by the Vice President for Foreign Affairs, LtCol. Ing. Ladislav Balázs Sr., and the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Commission, Lt. Ing. Ladislav Balázs Jr. The conference was held at the premises of the International Institute of Humanitarian Law (IIHL).
The meeting was chaired by the acting GI President, BG Martin Jugovec (Slovenia), former GI President Giuseppe Filippo Imbalzano (Italy), and the GI Vice President, LtCol. Philipp Leo (Switzerland). The current GI President, Col. Vilijem Kobal, was absent due to an urgent international military assignment.
Immediately after the meeting began, participants were greeted via video message by Hon. Stefania Pucciarelli, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Defence of the Italian Republic, who welcomed everyone and wished the conference success. This was followed by greetings from the Deputy Mayor of Sanremo and presentations by invited guests from the Czech Republic, Belgium, and Italy.
The first major item on the agenda was the decision to commission the development of a new GI website, which would replace the now-defunct original website. The expected launch date was set for October 2022, which, as we now know, has not yet been achieved.
LtCol. Philipp Leo, GI Vice President, presented the preliminary organizational guidelines and agenda for the next GI 2022 – II meeting, which was scheduled to take place at SWISSINT in Stans, the capital of the Swiss canton of Nidwalden, from Thursday, October 6, to Sunday, October 9, 2022. More information about that meeting will be provided in a separate article.
After the summary report from the GI-II 2021 meeting in Tábor, Czech Republic, and its unanimous approval, the floor was given to the individual national delegations for their presentations and discussions. Given the timing of the meeting, it was not surprising that most contributions focused on analyzing the course of COVID-19 in individual countries and the security situation in Ukraine.
We were pleased that our delegation received exceptionally positive reactions from the meeting participants after presenting the union’s original media projects — the Shooting Podcast and the Army Podcast. The media work of our union became an inspiration for several foreign delegations.
After the national presentations, LtCdr. Imbalzano included in the agenda a proposal to support the official CIOR statement regarding the war in Ukraine. CIOR had published a statement condemning the war in Ukraine and calling for an immediate end to hostilities. During the discussion, the question arose as to why GAMING itself does not issue an official declaration but supports CIOR’s statement instead.
A neutral position was maintained in support of CIOR to avoid complications with voting within the Gaming Initiative itself. Some members did not have the mandate to endorse such a document and would have needed to hold internal votes within their home organizations, which would have significantly complicated the adoption of any statement.
The main part of the conference was dedicated to the theme “How the COVID-19 pandemic affected our civilian and military society in Italy.” The conference and panel discussion on this topic were organized by the Center for International Studies of Significant Risks of UNUCI (CESTIMARI), the Lions Club Sanremo, and local authorities. Six renowned experts from across Europe spoke at the event, including the CIOMR President, LtCol. Michel Bynens (Belgium), and the former COMEDS President, BGen. Dr. Zoltán Bubeník (Czech Republic). They summarized the progression of the pandemic in the region, developments from its outbreak to the present, as well as the current state and expectations regarding further COVID-related risks.
Upcoming meetings of the Gaming Initiative are scheduled as follows:
- GI – II 2022, October 6–9, Stans, Switzerland (already completed)
- GI – I 2023, May 2023, North Macedonia, exact date to be announced
- GI – II 2023, September 2023, Romania, exact date to be announced