20.03.2014.
Delegation of the Ministry of Defence at the meeting of European Defence Agency
Based on the cooperation mechanisms provided for in the Administrative Arrangement that the Ministry of Defence signed with the European Defence Agency in December 2013, the delegation of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces, led by Brigadier General Dr Bojan Zrnic, in the capacity of a liaison officer with EDA, participated in the meeting of the Consultative Committee of that Agency in the format of Capabilities Directors on 18th March. The meeting was attended by representatives of all member states of the European Defence Agency, the representative of the Kingdom of Norway, which also has signed an administrative arrangement with the agency, as well as representatives of the European External Action Service and the Military Staff of the European Union. The work of the committee was chaired by Admiral Juan Nunez from the Ministry of Defence of the Kingdom of Spain.
Claude-France Arno, Executive Director of the European Defence Agency, informed the participants about the chronology of the events that followed the signing of the Administrative Arrangement between the European Defence Agency and the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Serbia, positively assessing the contribution of the Republic of Serbia to the Common Security and Defence Policy through the participation of the Serbian Armed Forces in military operations led by the European Union.
Briefing of Brigadier General Zrnic included the presentation of national development planning methodology based on operational capabilities, priorities in developing the capabilities in the forthcoming period, engagement of the Serbian Armed Forces in multinational operations with a focus on EU-led operations, fields and projects of EDA in which the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces wish to participate, as well as the capacities they have available for the participation in these projects. They also requested the access to databases of projects and programmes of the European Defence Agency (Collaborative Data Base, CODABA) and of the European capacities for testing and evaluation of weapons (Defence Test and Evaluation Database, DTEB). Also, they expressed support of the Ministry of Defence for pooling and sharing initiative developed by the European Defence Agency and requested the participation of the members of the Ministry of Defence in the work of the EDA's Material Standardization Group.Admiral Nunez, Chairman of the meeting, particularly emphasized the contribution of the Serbian Armed Forces in peacekeeping operations of the United Nations and the European Union and supported the proposals for the concrete contents of cooperation with the European Defence Agency, which were exposed by our delegation.
