15.01.2019.
Minister Vulin: NATO bombing is the last crime of the 20th century
The state of Serbia, as a militarily neutral country, will consistently implement the policy of military neutrality, which is pursued with so much perseverance and success by the Serbian president and supreme commander of the Serbian Armed Forces, Aleksandar Vulič. The military neutrality enables us to successfully cooperate both with the NATO Alliance through the form of the Partnership for Peace Programme, which I consider to be optimal, and with the countries of the East, Defence Minister Aleksandar Vulin said at the reception hosted by the Ambassador of the Hellenic Republic in Belgrade Elias Eliadis and the Chief of NATO Military Liaison Office Belgrade Brigadier General Cesare Marinelli, on the occasion of the Hand-Over Take-Over (HOTO) Ceremony of the NATO contact point embassy (CPE) in Belgrade.
Minister Vulin thanked NATO for the cooperation in the field of peacekeeping in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija.
- All the countries that constitute KFOR, both NATO Member and non-Member states, those who have left KFOR, and those who will, hopefully enter KFOR, deserve our great gratitude. We have our disagreements with KFOR, but we are always aware that KFOR is the only internationally recognised armed force in accordance with the Resolution 1244. We therefore expect KFOR to be status neutral, to tightly stick to its mandate given to it by Resolution 1244, to ensure peace and security for all those who live in Kosovo and Metohija and absolutely implement the agreement reached between President Vučić and the NATO Secretary General regarding the movement of armed Albanian units in the north of Kosovo and Metohija - Minister Vulin pointed out.When it sticks to its mandate, he added, KFOR is most respected by Serbs and will surely enjoy all the support of the Republic of Serbia.
- Serbia is a country that knows what war is, and therefore it values peace so much. That is exactly why we believe that our partnership relationships are very important. Perhaps, if we had this kind of cooperation, there would be no terrible lies about Račak, pronounced on today's date, which served as an excuse and a cause for NATO aggression against the FRY, the last major crime of the 20th century. That is exactly why we believe that we should cooperate, so that such a crime and such horror would never again be repeated over the Serbian people - Minister Vulin emphasized.
He assessed that precisely because of that, when we are talking about positive public diplomacy, which is not easy to run in a country that still sees wounds of aggression 20 years ago, we need to know that when news comes to us in which the Secretary General says he does not support the formation of a Kosovo army, that is the best thing we can hear from NATO, and we are sincerely happy to hear this.
- That is why we hope that there will be plenty of such news, and that is why we hope that there will be a lot of news by which we will able to say that Serbia and its position are respected and understood. And that is why you have to understand our justified fear when we see and hear that the highest officials of the Albanian state speak of the creation of a Greater Albania, the unification with the Albanians wherever they live, without hearing a clear and loud condemnation of what could be a threat to peace throughout the Balkans. You must understand our justified fear, and we are also using this opportunity to ask you to invest your authority and your undisputed power not to have challenging peace in our region, and that nobody is trying to make a Greater Albania, that no one is trying to bring us back to evil called war and conflict. You can do it - Minister Vulin said.
Serbia is a reliable and secure partner, Minister Vulin said, Serbia can be relied on and we expect nothing less from our NATO partners.
Minister Vulin expressed sincere gratitude to the Greek Embassy, which contributed to familiarising Serbia with NATO, as well as NATO with Serbia over the past two years.
- I particularly wish to thank Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Defence Minister Panos Kammenos, for their personal contribution to our relations. They are friends of Serbia, they are my comrades, they understand this country and have done everything to enhance and improve the relations between Greece and Serbia as well as relations between NATO and Serbia - Minister Vulin said.He also pointed out that he is looking forward to cooperating with the Norwegian Embassy, wishing “a boring and peaceful year in which there will be no opportunities for military or political undertakings”, but in which there will be opportunities for cooperation.
The reception was attended by the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dačić, representatives of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces, diplomatic and military diplomatic corps, institutions and civil society organisations.
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