25.10.2010.

Namibian defense minister visits MoD

Serbian Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac met today with the Defense Minister of the Republic of Namibia, Charles Dixon Philip Namoloh in the the Guard Palace in Topcider.

This is the first official visit to Namibia, and today the signing of a defense cooperation agreementis the first agreement signed between the two countries. Sutanovac expressed his satisfaction that this cooperation, which peaked in the 1980s, during the struggle for Namibian independence, is to continue. In this period a number of liberation movement SWAP members were trained in former Yugoslavia.

- This visit will open a new era of cooperation, as agreement marks the beginning of the implementation of plans of Minister Namoloh with the official Belgrade. The interest of the Namibian officials regards cooperation in the Serbian military health care system which has the capacity to offer on-spot trainings and even build a hospital in Namibia, as well as pilot training, engineering and cooperation in the defense industry, where there are opportunities for joint investment in the development and access to third markets - he said and added that the Namibian Minister of educational opportunities offered at military academies and training officers at command staff and general level.

Sutanovac reminded that this delegation of Namibia has officers who have been here in training previously and who speak the Serbian language, as one member of the Namibian delegation addressed the journalists in excellent Serbian.

- Today we signed a defense cooperation agreement between our countries-said Minister of Defence of Namibia, Charles Dixon Philip Namo, noting that it had been a while since the last official visits and training of officers in Serbia, which had contributed to the democratization of Namibia in 1980s.
Minister Namoloh said that this visit was a continuation of this cooperation, this time with the independent Republic of Namibia, stressing the readiness for cooperation with countries that have more experience.

Responding to reporters' questions about forwarding Serbia's candidacy for EU membership Sutanovac said that the possibility of soon accessing the EU is a force driving Serbia towards EU membership, but there is one problem that we have to solve, namely the cooperation with the ICTY. According to the Minister Sutanovac, Serbia's progress towards the EU is an unstoppable process and in the future we can only expect this process to accelerate.

As regards further cooperation with Namibia, Sutanovac particularly emphasized the possibility of exchanging experiences in peacekeeping operations, with Namibia, since 10,000 members of the Namibian professional army, have had significant participation. Another important area of cooperation is the exchange of information in security in African countries where most of the peacekeeping missions are being conducted, such as Sudan.

Minister Namoh, responding to reporters' questions, said that cooperation would be realized in the field of defense industry, adding that Namibia, during the struggle for independence, used the equipment and weapons of the Serbian defense industry which they were satisfied with.