24.11.2014.

Cooperation with the European Defence Agency

Minister of Defence Bratislav Gasic and the Executive Director of the European Defence Agency Claude-France Arno discussed further development of cooperation. During the meeting, it has been stated that active engagement in the concept of Common Security and Defence Policy is reflected in the efforts for greater engagement in crisis management operations, development of joint projects and improvement of administrative capacities for a more active cooperation with EU.

Gasic and Arno agreed that, in the next period, it is important to intensify cooperation in countering improvised explosive devices, and in the field of precision-guided munitions. Fields where cooperation might also be established are cyber defence and crewless (ground) platforms. Minister Gasic stressed that the cooperation with the European Defence Agency will improve military and defence capabilities of Serbia, and thus our interoperability with EU states.

Minister Gasic particularly thanked for the possibility of accessing data bases of the European Defence Agency – the Collaborative Data Base, Defence Data Base for analysis and assessment and the European Defence Research Centers Portal. During the meeting, it has been stated that MoD’s engagement within the EU Common Security and Defence Policy is of great importance for Serbia’s process of European integrations. The importance of joint projects has also been enhanced due to the current economic crisis and reductions in defence budgets in European countries.

Development of joint projects with the European Defence Agency and EU states was enabled in December 2013, with conclusion of the Administrative Contract with the Ministry of Defence. The European Defence Agency was founded in 2004 for improvement of European defence capabilities in the field of crisis management.