05.09.2016.
Minister of Defence with Ohio National Guard Adjutant General
On the occasion of marking the tenth anniversary since the establishment of the State Partnership Programme between the Republic of Serbia and the Ohio National Guard, Defence Minister Zoran Djordjevic has talked today with Major General Mark Bartman, Ohio National Guard Adjutant General. The meeting was attended also by Mr Kyle Scott, the US Ambassador to Belgrade.Djordjevic and Bartman summed up the results of the ten-year-long partnership and pointed out their satisfaction with the very good cooperation between the of members of the Serbian Armed Forces and the Ohio National Guard. They agreed that the State Partnership Programme is one of the best segments of the bilateral military cooperation between the two countries. They also discussed modalities of further cooperation in the framework of the Programme.
"The previous decade was very dynamic, marked by positive results of mutual interest. I sincerely hope that we will continue with this pace and find new areas in which we can share our experiences", Minister Djordjevic said.
He particularly emphasized joint efforts on the development of the South Base Peacekeeping Operations and Pre-Deployment Training Centre, which has specific capabilities in the region and contributes, among other things, to the quality of training of our members. The Minister also stressed the importance of the Humanitarian Assistance, during which in the past ten years invested considerable funds in the renovation of kindergartens and schools in Bujanovac, Kraljevo, Pranjani, Prokuplje and Soko Banja.
Minister Djordjevic and general Bartman talked also about enhancing military medical cooperation, primarily on the Combined Medical Engagement. Although the development of this project is expected next year, during the visit of the Ohio National Guard delegation to our country, the joint medical teams of the Serbian Armed Forces and the Ohio National Guard will conduct in the coming days free health checks of the inhabitants of remote villages in the territory of the Pcinj district. The Combined Medical Engagement will be implemented by 31 members of the Serbian Armed Forces, 26 members of the Ohio National Guard and four members of the Angolan Armed Forces as observers.
Considering the fact that members of the Ohio National Guard will soon be part of the KFOR mission in Kosovo and Metohija, the defence minister said that he hoped that this forthcoming engagement will be opportunity for the overall progress in the mutual relations, since the Republic of Serbia considers KFOR as the guarantor of security in Kosovo and Metohija.The State Partnership Programme between the Republic of Serbia and Ohio is being implemented on the basis of the signed Status of Forces Agreement – SOFA of 7th September 2006. The first visit of the Ohio National Guard Adjutant General Major General Gregory Wayt and 40 members of the Ohio National Guard to the Republic of Serbia, from 15 to 21 September 2007, is taken as the official start of cooperation in the field of defence.
In recent years, military-to-military cooperation has constantly developed and today the USA assessed the State Partnership Programme with Serbia among the most successful ones of over 60 established programmes around the world.
The most intensive cooperation is traditionally carried out in September every year when the Serbian Armed Forces hosts numerous delegations of the Ohio National Guard, led by the Adjutant General. Activity popularly called "Capstone" contains several activities different in contents that are simultaneously implemented in a number of units and institutions of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces.
Members of the Ohio National Guard are also the traditional hosts in the commissioning ceremonies for the youngest officers of the Serbian Armed Forces.
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