Ministry of defence Republic of Serbia
 
18.08.2015.

The Ministry of Defence is developing the best relations with all the countries



In response to the today's statement by the European Commission Spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic who said that under the current circumstances a Serbian-Russian joint military exercise would "send a wrong signal" and that the European Union expects Serbia to act in line with its EU commitments and its accession process, the Serbian Ministry of Defence points out that it runs a balanced foreign policy and puts continued efforts to promote and further qualitatively develop the best possible relations in the field of defence with all countries and international organisations, in accordance with the proclaimed military neutrality of the Republic of Serbia, the four pillars of its foreign policy and the defined national interests.

In this way, not only that it works for the purpose of state and defence policy, but it continues to develop its own skills and capacities. When it comes to international military cooperation, especially the bilateral one, it should be stressed that the Ministry of Defence is certainly focused on activities that can maximally contribute to the constant raising of the operational and functional capabilities of the Serbian Armed Forces. This is primarily on practical areas of cooperation which principally represent joint exercises and training with representatives of the armed forces of other countries. In that area, the Ministry of Defence currently has the most developed cooperation with the United States and the EU countries, with which it participates both bilaterally and multilaterally in more than a half of the total number of international military exercises held every year.

When it comes to defence cooperation with the United States of America, the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces have the most comprehensive bilateral military cooperation also related to many educational and training programmes for members of the Serbian Armed Forces and to modernisation and equipping of the units of the Serbian Armed Forces, developing its capabilities to participate in multinational operations, cooperation with the Ohio National Guard within the State Partnership Program. Apart from that, the cooperation is characterized with many other projects of general public importance in the Republic of Serbia, such as the "Humanitarian Assistance" project, the realisation of which the citizens will be able to see on Thursday when we are to officially open the renovated preschool institution and a music school in the Bujanovac Municipality, whose renovation was jointly carried out by members of the Serbian Armed Forces and those of the Ohio National Guard.

Along with this, the Ministry of Defence is making great efforts to plan, organize and participate in exercises and training activities also with other partners. When it comes to the activities with the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Defence pays the same attention as it does with other key partners, but at this moment, it is not nearly at the level we achieve with other partners.

What is more important to emphasize, the Ministry of Defence carries out activities in the field of international military cooperation in a very transparent and open manner, precisely for the reason that any of the partner countries not get the wrong perception, taking the approach of a detailed plan concluded at the beginning of every year.

In order to inform the public, all the previous reports of the European Commission and the European Parliament Rapporteur for Serbia, Mr David McAllister, unambiguously confirm the enormous contribution of the Serbian Ministry of Defence in the process of the accession of the Republic of Serbia to the European Union. Special attention is given to our current involvement in the EU crisis management operations (ATALANTA, EUTM Somalia, EUTM Mali and EUMAM - military advisory mission in the Central African Republic), excellent cooperation with the European Defence Agency (Serbia is the only non-EU country, apart from Norway and Switzerland, that concluded such agreement), permanent strengthening of the administrative capacity of the Serbian Ministry of Defence for more active contribution to the EU Common Security and Defence Policy.

As the crown of successful cooperation between Serbia and the EU, we should highlight the consent of the Minister of Defence and the recently adopted conclusion of the Serbian Government to finalize the process of our involvement in the concept of EU battle groups as soon as possible. In this way, all segments of the Common Security and Defence Policy are completely covered which the Serbian Ministry of Defence is very proud of.

 
MOD
Ministry of defence Republic of Serbia, Bircaninova 5 street, Belgrade
Questions of citizens: brziodgovor@mod.gov.rs, media requests: info@mod.gov.rs
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