13.12.2010.
Interview of Tanja Miscevic, State Secretary for Danas
At this point Serbia is not considering the option of membership in NATO. Let me remind you that the Serbian Parliament has adopted a resolution on military neutrality, so that the national policy defined by the use of the capacity of the Partnership for Peace - highlights Tanja Miscevic, State Secretary in the Ministry of Defence, in charge of defense policy for Danas.
WE NEED POLITICAL WILL TO ENTER NATO
According to her, Serbia's priority is to use all the benefits of this program, which Serbia, unfortunately, has not sufficiently utilized so far. AS for the question when Serbia could change the policy toward NATO, Miscevic said that is not on the agenda now, but in order to do this "political will and change of the resolution of military neutrality in the parliament are necessary."What has been Serbia's cooperation with NATO so far and how is it important for our country?
- Serbia is one of the signatories of the Partnership for Peace, and through this program has already generated a lot of activities. What we look ahead in the coming period is an Individual Program of the Partnership, which specifically defines the next steps in the implementation and use of all instruments that the Partnership for Peace provides. At this moment we do not use the program to the full extent of what we offer, but we certainly plan to change this in the future. An important step is the opening of the office with the NATO in Brussels.
The participation of Serbia and the EU missions has already been announced. How far have we come in these matters?
- Unlike the United Nations mission and NATO, the EU mission combine both civilian and military aspects. These include humanitarian assistance in the field, police, judicial and customs services, such as EULEX in Kosovo and Metohija. In order for the state to participate in these operations, it should be either an EU member or should sign a separate agreement with the Union. We are currently finalizing the security agreement with the EU, and are in the final stage of the Framework Agreement on the inclusion of Serbia in this mission. This agreement will define the status and commanding and financing of the forces deployed in the mission. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will soon conclude negotiations, but next year we will have the opportunity to sign this agreement and participate in missions.
In which EU mission can Serbia first participate?
- We held discussions with the Greek ministry of defense and most likely the first mission in which the Serbian officers will participate will be "Atalanta" on the coast of Somalia to fight piracy. It is interesting that other countries are already showing interest in the Serbian forces, primarily medical units, to participate with them in various operations. But the year 2011 could be the year of the first inclusion of Serbia into an EU mission.
What is the situation with the current military cooperation between Serbia and other countries? Can you single out those countries with whom we have the most advanced military cooperation, and which countries are the ones we should further develop our relations with?
- Fifty agreements on defense cooperation was signed in the last three and a half years, which include all countries in the region. The exception is Albania, but we are with at the stage of finalizing the drafting an agreement. If I had to single out any of these agreements as a special success, it would be an agreement Ministries of Defence of Serbia and Croatia, following the burden of 1990s and that this agreement will provide us with an opportunity to build good economic relations. In circumstances where there is actually no direct threat of aggression, good relations and understanding with the neighboring countries is essential.
One of the priorities of the Ministry of Defense several months ago was the promotion of military cooperation with Russia. Have you achieved some progress in this?
- When the chief of Russian General Staff was in a visit to Serbia, we concluded that the good political relations do not correspond to relations in the sphere of defense. We agreed that in these segments a lot more has to be done, and what has already been done is the education of our officers at Russian military schools, and Russian officers here. The Russian military is interested and to exchange experiences and to tell them our experience in the professionalization of the military to see what the main issues in this process. Discussed the cooperation in the repair or improvement and maintenance of equipment by the Army of Serbia has, especially those coming from the Russian Federation. And that is the plan for next year.
Military economical cooperation with Brazil
In which areas of defense Serbia is not cooperating enough with other countries?
- The agreements between the ministries of defense are generally defined by the usual degree of cooperation. It involves the exchange of experiences, education and military technical cooperation. Ten days ago was signed, however, the agreement with Brazil and the common cooperation will rely on military economic cooperation, or the attempt to achieve cooperation and through joint participation in the production of weapons and equipment. This kind of cooperation is an area where it is possible to achieve further cooperation with other countries.
