02.10.2015.

Minister Gasic met with the Ambassador of France

Defence Minister Bratislav Gasic and French Ambassador to Belgrade Christine Moro discussed the cooperation between the two countries and cooperation in the field of defence.

Gasic and Moro expressed satisfaction with the traditionally good and friendly relations between the two countries and the continuous improvement of political dialogue. Cooperation between Serbia and France is developing in the field of European integrations, improving of economic, cultural and educational cooperation, and particularly in the areas of defence, security and interior affairs. Gasic and Moro specifically discussed the possibilities of enhancing military-technical and military economic cooperation, as well as the further development of cooperation with "Airbus group."

Serbia greatly appreciates the support of France in the European integration process, Gasic said at the meeting. European integrations are a strategic goal of Serbia. Members of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces are currently deployed in four peacekeeping missions of the EU, and Serbia has signed the Administrative Agreement on cooperation with the European Defence Agency, as a third country outside the EU, beside Norway and Switzerland. Recently, the Serbian Government adopted a conclusion to finalize the process of our engagement in the concept of EU battlegroups as soon as possible, which covers all segments of the Common Security and Defence Policy of the EU.

Defence Minister said during the talks that we are proud that Serbia is among the top eight countries in Europe in the number of members who are deployed in peacekeeping missions under the UN mandate, which allows us to concretely contribute to the preservation of international peace and security.

Cooperation between the two countries in the defence field is intensive, and its main fields are military education, military economic and scientific-technical cooperation and engagement in missions under the mandate of the EU. The Ministry of Defence is firmly committed to the continuation of cooperation with France in the fields of deployment in multinational operations, which is of great military and political importance.