The Ministerial Conference “Preparing for the AI Era” was held in Belgrade on 22–23 May 2025, under this year's Serbian CEI Presidency.
Welcomed by Academician Bela Balint, Serbian Minister of Science, Technological Development and Innovation, the event witnessed the participation of delegates from 10 CEI Member States who engaged in open discussions on the rapid development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the challenges and opportunities across the CEI region.
The gathering allowed for a thorough overview of the dynamic AI landscape in Serbia, as well as of strategic projects such as Bio4Campus and EXPO2027 Belgrade. Moreover, participating delegations presented national AI strategies to facilitate future collaborations in this quickly evolving domain.
In her opening address, CEI Deputy Secretary General Ivana Pejović underscored the urgent need for coordinated regional responses to the transformative rise of AI. She highlighted Serbia’s concurrent leadership in 2025 - as holder of the CEI Presidency and co-chair of the Global Partnership on AI (GPAI) - as a unique opportunity to link regional priorities with global multilateral efforts.
Regional cooperation and science diplomacy offer promising pathways to ensure that the challenges of Artificial Intelligence are met with foresight, responsibility, and shared purpose, said Ivana Pejović.
The Conference reaffirmed the CEI’s strategic role as a platform for cooperation in Central, Eastern, and South-Eastern Europe. It also underscored the importance of science diplomacy as a key enabler for effective AI governance, fostering dialogue between scientific and policy communities.
The CEI remains committed to promoting responsible, inclusive, and regionally coordinated approaches to AI, leveraging on the potential of the science-policy-diplomacy nexus.
For more information: lombardo@cei.int
