31.01.2017.
Defence Minister with the Atlantic Council delegation
The Defence Minister Zoran Djordjevic has talked to the Atlantic Council delegation led by the Executive Vice President at the Atlantic Council Damon Wilson. During the meeting opinions have been exchanged on the political and security situation in the region, with a special emphasis on the migrant crisis and cooperation of the Republic of Serbia and NATO within the Partnership for Peace programme.
Minister Djordjevic has stressed that the long-term commitment of the Republic of Serbia is to develop partnership relations with the East and West and it endeavours to be recognized as a reliable, predictable and responsible partner. The participation in the Partnership for Peace activities represents an optimal framework for the Republic of Serbia to accomplish its security goals and enhance the defence capacities.
Djordjevic has emphasized that Serbia remains a military neutral state, and that it supports European and Euro-Atlantic commitment of its neighbours. He has pointed out that Serbia will stick to moderate policies in relations with the neighbours, and all open questions will be solved in a principled way with the full respect of norms of the international law.
Although it is not the EU member, but only the candidate, the Republic of Serbia strives, as a responsible member of the international community, to give an adequate response to the current migrant crisis without raising walls. Serbia would like to be a part of the solution in the European framework, but primarily taking into account its own national interests and their preservation. During the talk the Minister put a special emphasis on the fact that the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces render strong support to other state authorities in mitigating the consequences of the migrant crisis.
Minister Djordjevic stressed that the regional cooperation remains one of the key elements of our foreign policy position, which is shown by the fact that the Republic of Serbia, as the main factor of stability in the region is the full member of all regional security initiatives except the US-Adriatic Charter (A5), in which work it participates as an observer.
He emphasized that the UN Security Council Resolution 1244 and the Military Technical Agreement recognize solely KFOR as the guarantee of security at the territory of Kosovo and Metohija and the only partner of the Serbian Armed Forces in securing the administrative line and added that KFOR cannot transfer the responsibility for security at the territory of Kosovo and Metohija to any other institution or organization.
PHOTOGALLERY
