21.10.2009.
Serbia admitted into SEDM
The Republic of Serbia was admitted today at the defense ministerial as a full member of SEDM (Southeastern Europe Defense Ministerial Process)
The SEDM initiative was launched in 1996 with the main goal to strengthen stability and security in SEE and to intensify the political-military cooperation in the region. To date, Serbia has participated as an observer country, and in 2007 at SEDM ministerial conference in Kiev, Ukraine, Serbia applied for full membership.State Secretary Dusan Spasojevic, who is leading the MoD delegation at this year’s ministerial, stressed the importance of SEDM process and emphasized that today’s admission of our country best testified to the fact that MoD and SAF had been recognized as a reliable partner in strengthening regional peace and stability in this part of Europe. The Republic of Serbia is committed to give its unique contribution to boosting stability, and strengthening of regional, national, and global security, the regional cooperation being one of the main priorities of Serbia’s foreign policy. Today’s acceptance of Serbia into SEDM is the result of intensive international cooperation of MoD and SAF in the previous period, as Spasojevic pointed out.
During the conference State Secretary Spasojevic met with the defense minister of Bulgaria Nikolay Mladenov, and of Greece Evangelious Venizelous, US Assistant Defense Secretary for International Security Affairs Alexander Vershbow, Italian State Secretary of the Italian MoD Giuseppe Cossiga, Croatian MOD State Secretary Pier Simunovic and the Commander of Naples Allied Forces Admiral Mark Fitzegrald. The talks focused on the improvement of bilateral military cooperation and the security political situation in the region.Besides Serbia, Montenegro was also admitted as a full member of the SEDM initiative at today’s ministerial conference.
The SEDM member states are: Greece, Italy, SAD, Turkey, Croatia, Albania, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, BIH, Ukraine, Serbia, Montenegro, and Macedonia, where Georgia and Moldova hold the status of observer countries.
