Ministry of defence Republic of Serbia
 
09.11.2010.

Minister Sutanovac: Defense to get 1 million USD in aid



In the next year, the Ministry of Defence of Serbia will get one million USD in aid, while the program that deals with the education and training of officers can count on additional $ 900.000, as Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac stated in Washington today.

"We received a final confirmation that the Ministry of Defence of Serbia has been approved 1 million USD in aid for fiscal 2011 year. In relation to our needs that we will define in the future," said the minister.

He told the Serbian journalists in Washington that Serbia will get through a program focusing on education and training an additional $ 900,000 which will enable future education and training of cadets and officers.

Sutanovac arrived in Washington from Halifax, Canada, where he took part in the second Security Forum, the Under-Secretary of the US Department of Defense Michel Flurnoy, had confirmed the U.S. aid to Serbia. In the meeting they discussed future cooperation between the two ministries, as well as the Stet Partnership Program of Serbia with the Ohio National Guard.

Sutanovac’s visit is the first visit of a high Serbian official to Washington, after the visit of the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Belgrade in October.

Sutanovac also pointed out that the defense system of Serbia is one of the engines of Serbia’s European integration and stressed that he expects that the European Commission would as early as next Tuesday assess that the reform of the system is in accordance with democratic principles of modern Europe.

"Serbia attaches great importance to the European integrations and our defense system is one of the engines of reform steps," he said.

"We expect that tomorrow the annual report submitted by the European Commission, would clearly state that the defense reform is carried out in accordance with democratic principles of modern Europe and that we have completed the legislative reform of the defense system", he said.

He also recalled that a delegation of the members of the EU parliament had recently said that the European Parliament would not mention the defense system of Serbia in their reports, "because they do not see a problem in the defense and Serbia is no longer a part of the problem."

Speaking at the security forum in Halifax, Canada, Sutanovac told TANJUG that he had the opportunity to hear how his colleagues from the world of security and politics saw the main challenges and threats in the world, and that he had had a series of bilateral meetings with ministers as well as with other officials.

He said that he had met with Defense Ministers of Canada, Denmark and Albania, the Foreign Minister of Montenegro, as well as the State Secretary in the German Ministry of Defence.

During a visit to Washington, Sutanovac will have the opportunity to talk with officials of the State Department, the head of the National Bureau Guard, General Craig Mc Kinley, and to give a lecture at the National Defense University.

"For me the discussions we will have after my lectures are very important. I am one of the few ministers who has been given an opportunity to give a lecture at the university and, later, with more than 25 eminent experts in the domain of security, we will have the opportunity to hear what they think about our reforms and our system, " as the minister added
TANJUG news agency
 
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Ministry of defence Republic of Serbia, Bircaninova 5 street, Belgrade
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