Ministry of defence Republic of Serbia
 
03.04.2012.

State Secretary Tanja Miscevic's interview to Odbrana



SUPPORT FROM BRAZIL TO INDONESIA

Ministry of Defence has signed agreements on bilateral cooperation in defense with nearly 60 countries, and that number increases every year


Ministry of Defence will host the upcoming conference of the Cooperation Process in Southeastern Europe SEECP. Every year a ministerial conference, which this year will be held from 11 to 13 April in Belgrade, is hosted by the chairing country. Speaking about the importance of that meeting, State Secretary in the Ministry of Defence Dr Tanja Miscevic said that it was a political process, the pillar of regional integrations in this area, not only in the Western Balkans but covers a wider range of countries such as Bulgaria and Romania, which are members the European Union. In addition, it is an important element of political cooperation among these countries.

What is the importance of the upcoming ministerial meeting in Belgrade?

- The special value of the meeting, which gathers representatives of 13 state and regional initiatives that work in this area, is the possibility of exchange of views of Ministers of Defense, as well as bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the conference. In addition, the topic for discussion is of common interest to the region, and this is the problem of surplus of weapons. This is not just a problem of delaboration, destruction, storage, but generally the issue of surplus weapons whose date has expired or are stored inadequately. This is an opportunity for colleagues from the region to share experiences, which are really positive, although this process takes up a lot of time and resources.

At the moment we have no surplus ordnance outside warehouses, and we move even further – our major problem is phosphoric D ammunition, which is the most serious problem for the region. The point is that there will be no general talks about security issues, but we will focus on concrete forms of realization. This conference will show another aspect, that it is not just about gathering and exchange of views about the general issues threatening the stability of each state or region as a whole, but discussing specific problems.

In addition, we are involved in a very important project with the Office of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which will help us to secure warehouses for storing ordnance in the long run, such as warehouses "Mrsac" near Kraljevo and "Mirni?ka reka" near Kursumlija, while there is a plan to strengthen the work TRZ Kragujevac, which is promoted as a regional center for dismounting.

When you look at the year behind us, how would you evaluate the effects of regional cooperation of the Ministry of Defense and the Army of Serbia?

- For all countries in the region, which my colleagues from the region can also confirm, cooperation in defense and security is a good basis for political cooperation. When there is an important common interest in this area, regional cooperation is realized in the best manner. In the field of defense and security we have such interests which is not merely based on the existence of bilateral agreements, inclusion and participation in regional meetings and initiatives, but is also reflected in involvement in joint exercises, exchange of people and experiences, sharing knowledge, exchange of cadets. All this together shows that cooperation in the field of defense is very important, that is raised on a very high operational level as the result of needs. This is particularly the case when talking about the asymmetrical threats, the ones no country can tackle individually, and is focused on cooperation with the region, especially on those countries where similar language is spoken and therefore can be understood easily.

The news that Serbia has become a candidate for EU membership still resonates in home and foreign media with such comments as "The EU has opened its gates to Serbia". What does that actually mean and what awaits us in the future? How does this new status affect the Ministry of Defense and the Army of Serbia?

- EU had opened its gates to Serbia much earlier, and now it is but a formal step, without which we cannot continue our accession to the EU, so this is why it is so important. Furthermore it means that the candidate country has become a true partner of the EU and its Member States. This status will bring strengthening and monitoring of the reform process in that country, as well as help and support from the EU. Of course, this is an additional quality for the state, and for each of the institutions that operate in the state, including the Ministry of Defense and the Army of Serbia.

However, we forestall this step the candidate status, as we announced inclusion into common defense and security policy as early as mid 2010, although this usually happens at the very end of the process of accession. To this end, we began to function operationally by singing two agreements, as well as by being represented by Serbian soldiers at one of the ships in the EU "Atalanta” crisis management mission."

So, what do we do next?

- Now we will continue with our work, so the Serbian representative, general Djukanovic, the Head of the military office in NATO headquarters, participates in the work of one of the EU bodies, which is something we are extremely proud of. He will also be remembered in the history of relations between Serbia and the EU as the first official Serbian representative who, after obtaining the candidacy status, participated in its work.

In addition, our defense system will finds the decision to open accession talks about administrative arrangement with the European Defence Agency of utmost importance. It is a body that is extremely closed to those States which do not have a higher status in relations with the EU, so this arrangement is very interesting to us as a place for central research and development of weapons and defense industry of the Member States. Also, it is also a place for equipping, training and enhancing the interoperability of the armed forces of those countries. The fact that we are starting talks after obtaining candidacy status additionally confirms our partnership, and serves as a confirmation of interest in our defense industry.

We still have to work on harmonization in relations, and an additional opportunity opened up recently, during a visit of minister Sutanovac to the Czech Republic, in the form of invitation to our ministry to be included in the "Visegrad combat team" consisting of Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. The team should become operational in 2016 and we are working on analysis of the work of such groups. We received a similar invitation from the Italian Minister of Defense Di Paolo for "Adriatic combat team," which is very interesting for us since it consists of states from our immediate environment, but also because the chance to build a strategic partnership with Italy.

On this path towards the EU, how will we direct our further efforts with regard to peacekeeping operations under the auspices of the EU and UN, with the participation of members of the defense system of our country?

- This year the plan is to increase the number of participants in multinational operations from 63 to 523 members of our military, which is eight times more than before. In times of economic crisis, when most countries are withdrawing their troops from the multinational operations, we show willingness and capacities of professionalized SAF as well as our political capacity to be partners in securing peace. Involvement in the UN missions are still our primary goal and for the first time this year we have a reserve arrangement, the plan envisaging that along with the platoon sent to Cyprus we also have a company stationed in Lebanon, which is a significant increase.

Furthermore, the plan is to be involved in the missions for EU crisis management. Increasing participation is our strategic orientation, as well as including a wider range of different units in these missions. In addition, we launched an initiative to involve civilians in multinational operation, which is common in other armies as modern missions are generally related to assistance in building state structures. We have such capacities, and we began discussions with individual partner countries for involving our capacities.

International military cooperation is usually referred to as one of defense system reforms’ main results. How would you assess the realization of this plan, bearing in mind the partners both in the east and the west?

- It should not come as a surprise that both bilateral and multilateral cooperation is something we can be proud of. It is not enough to do a good job in your country, but important co-operation with other countries is also important. Sharing experiences, learning, support and donations are all segments of bilateral military cooperation, which help the development of what the reforms of defense system require. They therefore represent new capacities that may become the subject of interest for many countries.

We should not ignore the fact that the Ministry of Defence has signed agreements on bilateral cooperation in defense with nearly 60 countries and every year the number is increasing by about 10 agreements, and this trend has seen a significant rise since 2007. We foster a very large network of agreements from Indonesia to Brazil, which is very important because it means that we have partners in the security in such a vast area. These agreements are not just on paper, but they are realized and enforced through bilateral cooperation plans. This is why with some countries we focus our cooperation on health, and with others on military economy, somewhere on RCBD or special brigade.

We try to clearly define bilateral relations and thus prevent any overlapping, with the intention of cooperation will be realized in the best manner.

What can we expect from international military cooperation plans in the future?

- In the long run this cooperation will envision strengthening participation in multinational crisis-management operations and expansion of bilateral relations, and should not be ignored and the obligations of the Partnership for Peace program and Individual Partnership Programme. At the moment the emphasis is on regional cooperation. With the upcoming conference, there are two more medical conferences, Second Conference of SEE Military Medical Services and 17th Balkan Congress of Military Medicine, which will be held in Belgrade. Since this year, 2012, marks a centennial of aviation in our country, this anniversary will be marked by a science conference at the Institute of Strategic Research and by an Air Show "Batajnica 2012", which will, we expect, have more visitors than previous ones.

Who are the largest donors to our defense system?
- The biggest donors are the United States, that this year alone will provide us with 21 special-purpose "Hamvi" SUVs, soon to be delivered to the Special Brigade and the base Jug. Chinese donations in IT equipment are also very important, and we expect a donation in ambulance cars. Norway and Denmark are also our major donors, both in direct donations, as well as in specific programs.

Where we are with the promotion and implementation of partnership goals?

-We have made huge progress, since out of 19 partnership goals set in 2010, now the number of goals rose to 42. Namely, this is not something that is imposed on us, all these goals are adhering to agreements, and our partners in the Partnership for Peace Programme share our opinion. DRG Working Group shows that we are proceeding with reform process by adopting the best European standards in various forms. In addition, our need to develop in those areas that were not covered has been further confirmed. IPAP, Individual Partnership Action Plan was also presented, on which we worked, and most of the technical elements for the implementation of the document are in our hands, these being measures to improve the process. Let me emphasize that as a member of the Partnership for Peace Program we received nothing but positive reviews for the realization of these tasks both from NATO member states and PfP signatories.

You are leading the MoD team for realization of the National Action Plan for implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1325 "Women, Peace and Security". What is, at this point, the most current in this segment of ministry’s work?

- Serbia is among few countries that have NAP, while a much smaller number of countries has institutions tasked with the implementation of NAP. We recently organized a workshop which was to assist analytical groups, as the main operational part of NAP, to monitor the situation in each of the ministries with respect to the implementation of the plan. The goal is to help with the indicators and criteria that determine where it is possible for violation of gender equality can occur. Based on these indicators we shall propose adequate measures. This is an essential issue, so it is not about having various and large political bodies, various groups and committees of the Assembly, but the site states that something is a potential threat. These indicators, with recommendations then become part of everyday work, including this ministry.


PROCESS OF COOPERATION IN SOUTH EAST EUROPE - SEECP

The regional initiative Southeast European Cooperation Process (SEECP) was launched on Bulgaria's proposal at the SEE countries Foreign Affairs Ministerial in Sofia in June 1996. The initiative was originally entitled “The process of good neighborly relations, stability, security and cooperation among SEE countries”. This is the only authentic initiative that was launched by the SEE countries themselves and as such represents a unique “voice of the region”. The role of the Process is to create a new future for South Eastern Europe, based on peace, democracy and economic prosperity and full integration of countries of the region into European and Euro-Atlantic structures.

The framework for the functioning of the SEECP means political cooperation that covers issues of security and stability, development of cooperation in economy and environmental protection, promotion of humanitarian, social and cultural cooperation and cooperation in the field of justice, fight against organized crime, terrorism, drug trafficking, arms contraband and human trafficking.
SEECP has 12 countries participating in the Process: Albania, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Croatia, FYR Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Montenegro and Turkey. Serbia (as part of the former state union of Serbia and Montenegro) was included in the full scope of activities of SEECP at the Summit held in Skopje, in October 2000.

The most important SEECP document is the Charter on Good-Neighborly Relations, Stability, Security and Cooperation in the SEE, adopted at the meeting of Heads of State and Ministers in Bucharest, on 12 February 2000. The current country chairing the forum is Serbia in the period from June 2011 to July 2012.

During its Chairmanship of SEECP, the Republic of Serbia will lay special emphasis on fight against organized crime which poses a permanent threat to the stability of our countries and their future prosperity. This requires the close cooperation and full coordination of police and judicial authorities of all countries in the region.

GENDER EQUALITY

Secretary of State Tanja Miscevic is also a consultant for Gender Equality to Minister Sutanovac and chairman of the Political Council for implementing the National Action Plan for the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325. She emphasizes how pleased she is that the system has showed interest in this area.
- The essence of the implementation of Resolution 1325 are the capacities, that is, focusing on capacities used in responding to contemporary security challenges. Emphasis will be on the people you can trust, who will be stationed in units and in multinational operations. Namely, the Resolution 1325 stemmed from the fact that women are both participants and victims of armed conflicts. In order to help the women who are victims, it is of vital importance to have someone you can trust as the bearer of work. In large contingents of soldiers, the appointed person is of trust, usually a woman, so she could talk to them about what they suffered. Furthermore, for a person to be able to talk with victimized women, they have to undergo special training.
 
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