23.08.2017.

Enhancement of defence cooperation with Germany

Defence Minister Aleksandar Vulin and German Ambassador Axel Dittmann discussed today defence cooperation and possibilities for its enhancement.

Minister Vulin and Ambassador Dittmann agreed that it should be a joint task to find ways to enhance cooperation in the areas of common interest, which will be contributed to by the signing of a new Defence Cooperation Agreement with Germany in the forthcoming period. They exchanged views on the migration issue and engagement of the Bundeswehr and the Serbian Armed Forces in managing the migration crisis.

At the meeting, it was concluded that cooperation in the field of defence was fundamental, meaningful, but also friendly, following the overall trend of development of relations between the two countries.

Such cooperation, Minister Vulin stressed, is a significant step towards accelerated accession to the European Union, which is one of the priorities of the Government of the Republic of Serbia. On this path, support and understanding of FR Germany, as a key EU country, is particularly important to Serbia.

The Republic of Serbia is fully committed to military neutrality and strives to cooperate equally with all countries in the world which are dedicated to peace, respect for international law, territorial integrity and sovereignty of states; it opposes all forms of violence and builds partnerships in both the East and the West.

Minister Vulin thanked Ambassador Dittmann for the professional engagement of the members of the German contingent within KFOR, and stressed their contribution to security in Kosovo and Metohija.

The intensification of high-level visits and meetings particularly contributes to the improvement of cooperation, and in this regard, a meeting at the level of defence ministers has been planned in the forthcoming period. Both sides welcomed the development of military-to-military cooperation also through the forthcoming meeting of the Chief of General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces with the Inspector General of the Bundeswehr.

The participants in the meeting also discussed the importance of cooperation in the field of education and training, military medicine and arms control. They particularly highlighted cooperation and joint engagement of the Serbian and German teams in the EU mission to Mali.

The topic of the discussion was also the cooperation with the Airbus Group, within which acquisition of helicopters and enhancement of capabilities of the Moma Stanojlović Aviation Institute has been planned.