05.09.2020.
Meeting of Minister Aleksandar Vulin and Secretary General of CSTO Lieutenant General Stanislav Zas
Today, in the framework of his visit to the Russian Federation, Minister of Defence Aleksandar Vulin met Secretary-General of Collective Security Treaty Organisation LIeutenant General Stanislav Zas.
First of all, Minister Vulin congratulated General Zas on his appointment as the Secretary-General of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation and wished him success in his work.
At the meeting, they discussed the enhancement of cooperation between the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Serbia and CSTO, and they expressed mutual interest in continuation of successful cooperation established in the previous period.
- As a militarily neutral country, Serbia highly appreciates cooperation with all its partners both in the east and west. The CSTO is our partner which respects the policy of military neutrality and which highly appreciates the position of the Republic of Serbia in international relations - Minister Vulin said.
He highlighted that according to an order of Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces Aleksandar Vučić, Serbia pays attention to military neutrality and Serbia takes care of having excellent and best possible relations with all its partners. “That is why Serbia cooperates with the CSTO on the principles of mutual confidence, equality and partnership and that is why Serbia can learn from the CSTO and its members”.
- Serbia also cooperates with the CSTO in the matters of training, exercises, and when it comes to preparation of our members for the participation in peacekeeping operations. We are very proud because we are respected here as a secure, reliable, transparent partner, as a party which has something to say and contribute in the area of military-to-military cooperation, both with the CSTO and bilaterally with member states of CSTO - Minister Vulin said, stressing that the is “very grateful to the CSTO for its respect for Serbia, for honouring the policy of our military neutrality and for the fact that the position and policy of our Supreme Commander Aleksandar Vučić is understood, recognised and acknowledged here”.
General Zas pointed out that he is “pleased that the meeting was carried out, and because it was very concrete and conducted in a friendly atmosphere”.
- We talked about the prospects of our cooperation. I would like to highlight that we share similar or the same views on the matters relating to geopolitics and more precisely the issues of our region, which supports the fact that we have a good foundation for further development of cooperation - said General Zas.
- We considered some practical issues of our cooperation which represent interest of both Serbia and CSTO. They include training of personnel in peacekeeping missions. I am confident that today’s meeting will contribute to development and enhancement of our cooperation - General Zas evaluated.
In their common orientation towards the continuation of activities in the framework of the Youth Forum, Minister Vulin and General Zas agree that education and continuous advancement are something that the young generations require in order to be better equipped to analyse the nature of contemporary challenges, risks and threats and their influence on security, and to be able to exchange experiences in countering different forms of security threats.
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