15.09.2009.
Minister at the conference in the Norwegian Embassy
Minister of Defense Dragan Sutanovac held a briefing at the conference organized by the Embassy of Norway, which deals with political, economic and the security issues of SEE and the Balkans.Minister Sutanovac, at the start of his address made an estimate that the defense system of Serbia was in a far better situation than it was during the previous years. He reminded the conference attendees that the management of Mod had managed to overcome many problems which had additionally burdened the Ministry of Defense and the Serbian Armed Forces, the main issue being the non-existence of the legal regulations and bylaws. By adopting all the six systematic laws, the Strategy of the National Defense and the Strategic Defense Review resulted in a new, well-founded framework for the defense system reforms.
Stressing the popularity of the SAF had soared in the last two years, while also commenting the eagerness of SAF members to cooperate with NATO is greater than that of the public. In his address he pointed out that he had had an opportunity to hold talks with al his colleagues in the region, with whom, as he stated, he had a shared vision of the safe future of the Balkans.
As for the international cooperation, it has yielded excellent results especially as regards the cooperation with the countries of the Far East, such as China. This was also another opportunity to remind of the excellent cooperation with Iraq, Libya and Algiers in the area of the defense industry, which ranks as the most successful part of our industry in terms of export results.
As a significant indicator of the rise of trust in the defense system, he reiterated that an ever more growing number of young men are enrolling into military schools in comparison to a period three to four years ago. AS for the process of professionalizing the army, this process continues.In respect to the liberalization of the visa regime, the Minister is of the opinion that the whole society and the military of Serbia would benefit from this liberalization immensely, adding that so far only few of cadets had had the opportunity to spend some time in EU.
After the briefing, he told the media that such regional conferences were very important for Serbia, especially when you consider Norway as one of the greatest investors into Serbia. The defense area ifs the pillar of cooperation between Norway and Serbia as Norway has made a large number of donations whose results are evident at every step. This was once again confirmed by a recent visit of Norwegian officials, since this cooperation had been improved with the participation of our military medical team within the Norwegian contingent in the UN peace operations in Chad.
The conference of the Norwegian ambassador is an annual even held in one of the countries in the region with the ambassadors of Norway to these countries as participants.
