06.02.2012.

Visit of the defense minister of Macedonia

Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac met today with Minister of Defence of the Republic of Macedonia Fatmir Besimi in the House of Guards in Topcider.

This is the first official bilateral visit of the Macedonian Minister of Defense in the past five years. On that occasion, Sutanovac said that Macedonia as a neighboring country is extremely important when it comes to defense cooperation, especially in the field of military education and health care.

- We would like to extend cooperation in the field of education and training of our units in the territory of Serbia and Macedonia. In addition, there is room for military economic cooperation, as Macedonia has a developed defense industry, though not to the extent as Serbian defense industry, that can be complementary to our own - said Sutanovac, adding that Macedonia is building military medical facilities that can also be complementary with those of the Serbian Army, so we want to find an area of common interest here as well.

According to Minister Sutanovac, Macedonia has been present in peacekeeping missions and these experiences Serbia is just starting to acquire.

- Minister Sutanovac’s Macedonian counterpart, said that "our past can be our advantage in the future", which indicates that we can find a way to eventually participate together in one of the UN peacekeeping missions around the world and the EU - said Sutanovac adding that the Ministry of Defence of Macedonia has made a step further in terms of the active reserves, which was another topic of discussion today, because the intention is for our country to establish the existence of formal models of active reserves during this year.

Sutanovac took the opportunity to send an official invitation to Minister Besimi for the upcoming air show "Batajnica 2012" which will be in the first days of September held in Serbia.

Expressing satisfaction with today's visit to Serbia, Minister Besimi emphasized that it is extremely important in terms of further cooperation in the field of defense.

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Cooperation between our countries in defense so far has shown excellent results, as a signal for further cooperation. Macedonian were in Serbia and we are interested in developing good cooperation in the field of education, teaching in the future as well. Also, I think we should exercise our regional capacities in terms of Military medical aspects - Besimi said, adding that they should use the capacities of Krivolak training ground and the grounds in Serbia.

Speaking of today's talks, Macedonian Defense Minister said that he was able to hear something more about the professionalization of the Army of Serbia, as well as reforms related to EU integrations, which is a common perspective for both countries.

He expressed particular interest in regulating social and health insurance aspects of active and retired military personnel pointing out that our particular solution may be used in the Macedonian army as well.

During the conversation the possibility of cooperation in a mixed team of military and technical cooperation was also discussed, where Minister Besimi said that the willingness to cooperate is the key to stability in the region.

During their visit, Macedonian Minister of Defence met with Chief of General Staff of the Serbian Army Lieutenant-General Ljubisa Dikovic.

ANSWERS TO REPORTERS’ QUESTIONS

Asked about the Army's participation in the clearing of snow and ice in our country, Sutanovac said that the Army has been engaged from the first day on the field, primarily in the municipalities that have declared emergency situation, as well as those that are most remote and inaccessible

According to him, 14 000 members of the Army of Serbia and 50 machines are available at the moment operating snow clearing machines, pointing out that this is what the army can do at the moment without disrupting its normal functioning. In recent days, several hundred members of the Serbian Army was engaged in clearing snow, said Sutanovac.

He added that the cadets of the Military Academy, at its own initiative, are clearing the snow around the Clinical Center and the maternity wards in Belgrade. The Minister, also took this opportunity that before criticizing the government, everybody should clean the snow in front of their own homes, shops and businesses, which is also their legal obligation.

Answering the question about what the greatest security challenges in the region are, Minister Besimi said that the solution lies in an open dialogue and democratic way of solving problems, and that it is something we have learned from our past, and other similar examples in the world.

Regarding the same topic, Sutanovac said that in South-Eastern Europe cross-border organized crime is the biggest challenge, as routes pass through Serbia and Macedonia. Although not a military challenge, this is something all state security structures should deal with.