05.01.2010.

Sutanovac at the ambassadors conference

Minister of Defense Dragan Sutanovac spoke today at the Federation palace at the ambassadors conference which has gathered the highest diplomatic representatives of Serbia abroad for the third year in a row. The ambassadors were also addressed by President of Serbia Boris Tadic, Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic and the Minister of the Interior Ivica Dacic.

President Tadic took this opportunity to present the main guidelines of our state policy for this year, as well as to remind of the events and obstacles we encountered in 2009. Tadic reiterated that state priorities had remained the same for this year as well-EU membership, preserving sovereignty and territorial integrity of our country, strengthening regional cooperation and intensifying good relations with the neighboring countries as well as intensifying economic growth.

Prime Minister Cvetkovic focused in his expose on economic indicators which had marked the previous year, he concluded that the state had preserved its stability yet there is a lot ahead of us in 2010, especially when we consider the issue of European integrations.

In his address, Minister Sutanovac thanked the ambassadors for cooperation which had been very successful especially when it comes to promoting our defense industry in foreign markets. Sutanovac repeated President Tadic and Prime Minister Cvetkovic’s assessment that the defense industry was becoming the main axis of Serbia’s industrial growth. The defense industry products are one of Serbia’s key export products.

Sutanovac added that instead of buying the defense industry products using the money of tax payers regardless of our army’s needs, MoD decided to support our defense industry by promoting it and reaffirming the defense market abroad. Hundreds of millions worth of contracts are a proof of this. Sutanovac appealed to the ambassadors of Serbia to recognize the importance of promoting our defense industry products abroad, stressing that it was of good quality and was even placed on such markets which demand high standards that NATO prescribes. Minister announced that during 2010 this activity will continue in India, North Africa and even South America.

As regards the bilateral military cooperation, it was very successful in 2009, as this year was marked by the visits of the representatives of such world powers as USA and China. Much has been done as regards the development in the field of defense which was confirmed in meetings of defense ministers “from Ankara to Vienna” as he said. However, there is still room for raising the relations with Russia to a higher level.

The reforms of the defense system were something the minister stressed as the most important accomplishment along with rising the repute of the army among the citizens and MoD’s contribution to Serbia’s path towards EU which could be seen in positive reports of the European commission and in the report of the ICTY prosecutor.

This year we are looking ahead towards finalization of the professionalization process, intensifying the participation in peace missions where he specifically alluded to the possibility of participating in Lebanon and Cyprus. In the end of his address, Minister concluded that the defense system would continue to be the factor of stability of our country.