From 4-6 September, 2026, Sarajevo will host the fourth Sarajevo Security Conference, the biggest geopolitical and security gathering in the Western Balkans, featuring more than 140 speakers and over 300 participants.
This year’s topic is “Security of Europe in a Divided World,” and the three-day programme will focus on the future of European and global security. The organiser is the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy from Washington, US think tank focused on international security, geopolitics, and foreign policy.
Among the announced speakers are US Congressmen Marc Veasey and Greg Murphy, members of the US Helsinki Commission, Dame Karen Pierce, the UK Special Envoy to the Western Balkans, and Ambassador Hossam Zaki, former Deputy Secretary-General of the Arab League.
Hassan Diab, the former Prime Minister of Lebanon, will also arrive in Sarajevo, along with Hamza Almustapha, former Minister of Information in the Syrian government and current Special Advisor for Europe to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Syria.
The program will cover the European security architecture, the future of transatlantic relations, cybersecurity, hybrid threats, cognitive warfare, energy security, and new technologies and artificial intelligence in defense. The agenda will also include current geopolitical crises and their consequences for Europe and the broader international order.
Due to the arrival of a large number of officials, diplomats, and VIP guests, the increased security measures during the conference will be implemented in coordination with the competent institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Ministry of Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina, NATO, EU Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Friedrich Ebert Foundation, and the embassies of Italy, Spain, Finland, and Egypt supported this event.
The organisers mentioned that, on an annual basis, the conference brings together an increasing number of relevant international actors and serves as a platform for dialogue on the challenges that Europe, the Western Balkans and the international community face.
In early September, Sarajevo will once again be a meeting point of political and security officials, diplomats, the army, the academic community, international organisations, think tanks and civil society.
