07.02.2013.
State Secretary Djordjevic in the EU defence agency
Delegation of the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Serbia, headed by the State Secretary Zoran Djordjevic, visited the European Defence Agency in Brussels. The visit to the Agency was held in the framework of negotiations regarding the agreements on administrative cooperation between the Defence Ministry and the agency states. The meeting was attended by the top management of the Agency, headed by Executive Director Claude-France Arnaudt.
The main topics were consideration of multinational projects within the concept of the so-called EU "Joining and Sharing" to develop military capabilities and technology perspectives joint research and development, as well as harmonization of specific modalities of future cooperation and all the elements of administrative contracts.- It emphasizes the importance of the involvement of the Ministry of Defence under the Common Security and Defence Policy of the EU, as an important part of the process of European integration of Serbia and the further involvement of defense capabilities and defense industry in Serbia in modern European trends, said Djordjevic.
He added that the highest representatives of the European Defence Agency agreed that the economic crisis and the reduction in defense budgets of European countries should serve only to further increase the importance of multinational joint projects, in order to maintain and further develop the necessary military capabilities, and the security environment in Europe.
Agency is made up of all EU member states except Denmark, which does not participate in the Common Security and Defence Policy. In addition, the Agency has so far concluded administrative agreements with Norway in 2006, with Switzerland in 2012, with Serbia as the third country to enter into such a partnership arrangement with the Agency.
- Signing of 'this important agreement in the field of defense with the EU is expected in late May of this year, as no identified problems or any obstacles in the way of recent completion of the necessary procedures on both sides, concluded Djordjevic after the meeting.
In addition to meeting in the European Defence Agency, the Secretary of State Djordjevic met with the assistant secretary-general of NATO for defense investment, whose responsibilities include the coordination with EU countries in the field of military capabilities and material resources. In light of the future arrangement of Serbia with EU agencies the contents of the current cooperation between the EU and NATO were also given consideration in order to avoid overlapping of projects being developed under the auspices of the European Defensive agencies and those under the auspices of NATO, given that the 21 EU member states and NATO members also.Such an approach in the application of uniform standards, procedures and doctrine in Europe require greater cooperation between national capacities for the development of military capabilities and defense industry, both in the framework of the Partnership for Peace and the EU members and candidates for membership in the EU, one of the conclusions of this conversation.
- Following the model of member states that are in partnership with NATO, the mechanisms of cooperation within the Partnership for Peace is a significant support to the implementation of NATO standards, which are fully implemented by the European Defence Agency, said Djordjevic.
The Serbian delegation at the meetings was represented by Brigadier General Bojan Zrnic, Chief of the Defence Technologies Department, Colonel Sasa Stefanovic from the Joint Operations Command of the Army of Serbia.
