29.12.2017.
Serbia Is a Peace-loving Country which Protects itself and its Territory
Asked by journalists to comment the fact that the Department of Defence of the United States of America is to analyse the military cooperation of all Western Balkan countries with the Russian Federation and whether it raised concern, Minister of Defence Aleksandar Vulin pointed out that Serbia was willingly neutral country that would cooperate with everyone who desired to cooperate with Serbia when it was assessed as good for the interests of Serbia.
- The Russian Federation is our friend with whom we cooperate well in all the areas, starting from economy to military-to-military cooperation and we will continue behaving like that. No country, as much as we respect it, like we respect the United States of America, has the right and we will not give it the right to decide instead of us about who our friends or enemies are, who we will cooperate with, how we will cooperate, where to procure arms, what to buy and what to be given. No country has won that right, when we are in question, and we will not give that right to any country. We will continue behaving as a military neutral country; as a country which decides independently and as a country which can decide to arm itself if it is deemed necessary. Just because we are a military neutral country we have to be strong – the minister of defence said and stressed that the Serbian Armed Forces had to be stronger than the armed forces of the countries that are members of some treaties or alliances, since they had someone to call in case of need and we did not.
- That is why we have to be stronger that they in order to preserve our sovereignty and our freedom and our freedom to make decisions. I do not know what the representatives of the United States of America will say in their report. Everything that we do is transparent and they can freely visit the website of the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Serbia, or read it in our newspapers. Everything is completely transparent, and we do not hide any bullet that we procured, we do not hide the MiGs, nor who it is that we cooperate with and where we acquire our armament. Hence, there is nothing that is hidden. I do not think that they could see any evil in it, because we are a peaceful country that protects itself and its territory. If anyone sees evil in the fact that Serbia wants to be stronger and strives to be more secure and stable, then I have to say that I do not understand their definition of purpose – Minister Vulin stated.
