20.11.2016.
Confirmation of the developed cooperation between Serbia and Hungary in the field of defence
Within the framework of Hungarian–Serbian joint governmental session in Nis, today, Minister of Defence Zoran Djordjevic met with his Hungarian counterpart, István Simicskó.
At the meeting, they concluded that the defence cooperation was developed, and that the joint participation in the mission UNFICYP in the Republic of Cyprus makes the crown of the cooperation.- Defence cooperation with Hungary takes place in four segments: military-to-military, military-economic, military-educational and military-medical, and for all four segments we achieved agreement how to continue the cooperation, Serbian Defence Minister said after the meeting. When it comes to military-to-military cooperation, we talked about the possibility that we have more military exercises and in the future, maybe to participate together in another mission, and when it comes to military-educational cooperation, we expect to sign a contract between the two military universities, Djordjevic said.
Considering that Hungary has a large military hospital in Budapest and Serbia has Military Medical Academy, and many experts in war surgery, Djordjevic concluded that this was an opportunity for them to share experiences in that field.
- What is the most important thing when it comes to economics, it is cooperation between the defence industries and how Serbia and Hungary can work together to be present on a third market, but also to cooperate in the framework of the European Defence Agency, Djordjevic said. He also pointed out that they talked about joint military exercises to be held according to the different scenarios that simulate the reaction of the armed forces in crisis situations, as well as the cooperation of intelligence agencies and information exchange.
-With the Minister of Defence of the Republic of Serbia, we considered a number of questions, and held very successful talks, the Hungarian Defence Minister, István Simicskó said after the meeting. There is room for better cooperation that we should use in the future, among other things in education, in joint military exercises and in other areas. We also discussed experiences regarding the migrant crisis and we have found the need for even stronger cooperation, in particular, the National Security Council, Minister Simicskó said.
During the talks, the two ministers emphasized the contribution of members of the two armies in mitigating the effects of the migrant crisis and control of the border areas.
- Current situation at the border is such that we have almost 16,000 migrants that we discouraged from entering Serbia. Since 24th October, part of the contingent of the Hungarian police force, 20 of them, have joined us. I expect from the Joint Force in the forthcoming period to see how and in what way we can resist the pressure, Minister Djordjevic said.
Minister Simicskó reiterated Hungary's support to Serbia's European integration and the willingness to share experiences in the process of accession to the European Union, and in particular, the support and assistance to the Ministry of Defence for a more intensive contribution to the EU Common Security and Defence Policy.
Minister Djordjevic stated that Serbia, in accordance with the proclaimed military neutrality, seeks to establish equal cooperation with all countries in the world dedicated to the policy of peace, respect for international law, territorial integrity and sovereignty of other countries.
The two ministers stressed that the cooperation in this year ends with traditional sports meeting of senior officers of the two armies in Budapest in December and that the cooperation plan for 2017 would enable further progress of defence cooperation and building stronger relationships.
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