07.02.2014.
Cooperation with Norway
Delegation of the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Serbia, headed by Colonel Milan Konjikovac, Acting Head of the Department for International Military Cooperation, was in a return visit to the Ministry of Defence of the Kingdom of Norway in the period from 4th to 6th February, as part of regular bilateral defence consultations, the signing of the Protocol on Cooperation in the field of building integrity and coordination and signing Bilateral Military Cooperation Plan.In Oslo, the Delegation met with representatives of the Department of International Security and Defence Policy of the Ministry of Defence, the Department for the Balkans of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and visited the military medical base, the International Centre of the Norwegian Armed Forces and the Centre for Distance Learning.
In the talks the achievements of the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Serbia in the process of defence reform were presented, with special emphasis on the contribution in the field of Serbia's accession to the European Union, the attitude towards NATO and cooperation mechanisms, regional aspects of Serbian security policy and future plans for enhancing regional cooperation in the defence field. Also the Norwegian views on cooperation with NATO and the European Union were presented as well as their current engagement in peacekeeping operations and plans for the future.
During the visit, the Protocol on Cooperation within the Building Integrity Project was signed. The aim of the project is to identify the risks of corruption/unethical behaviour in the institutions of the defence sector in the countries of South Eastern Europe. The project will include the development of needs analyses tailored to the specificities of each country.
Colonel Konjikovac assessed the defence cooperation with Norway as very important and thanked for the help. He recalled that the two traditionally friendly countries have shown a remarkable level of cooperation participating in the peacekeeping operation in Chad in 2009 and 2010, and conveyed the readiness of the Ministry of Defence to consider the possibility of joint re-engagement with Norway in some of the UN missions.Bilateral military cooperation with the Kingdom of Norway is among the top priorities of the Ministry of Defence, not only with regard to the main fields, such as education or military medical cooperation, but also in those areas which are in the initial stages, such as energy efficiency. In this regard, he presented the proposals of the Ministry of Defence and requested from the Norwegian side to consider the possibility of participating in some of them.
Nina Borgen Bakevol, Deputy General Director for Security Policy at the Ministry of Defence of the Kingdom of Norway, expressed her satisfaction with the achieved level of cooperation, especially when it comes to the Balkan region and assessed positively the initiative of Serbia to take a leading role in the Balkan Medical Task Force.
Serbia's intention to increase the number of members in multinational operations is impressive and the Ministry of Defence of the Kingdom of Norway is ready to support such important projects to the extent that current budgetary constraints permit. She conveyed that significant funds have been provided to support additional equipping of the existing deployable medical facility.
Norway is truly devoted friend of Serbia, it will strive to expedite completion of the initiated projects and make a step forward in opening up space for new areas of cooperation.
After the consultations, the 2014 Bilateral Military Cooperation Plan has been agreed and signed.
