23.06.2021.
Minister Stefanović meets with Shoigu
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the Republic of Serbia, Nebojša Stefanović, PhD, has met today with the Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation, General of the Army Sergei Shoigu, at whose invitation he is visiting the Russian Federation and participating in the 9th Moscow Conference on Security Policy.
Minister Stefanović pointed out that the defence cooperation between Serbia and Russia was at a historic high, while Minister Shoigu said that Russia was committed to further developing bilateral cooperation and providing assistance to the Serbian Armed Forces in their capacity strengthening.
At the beginning of the meeting, Minister Stefanović pointed out that he was extremely glad that there was a lump of Serbian soil from the Cemetery of the Liberators of Belgrade in the "Memory Lane" museum complex near Moscow, and that it was a powerful symbol of our nations’ mutual struggle against fascism.“Serbia will take part in the construction of the monument to the Serbian soldier, proposed by you, and it will, of course, be a great honour for us to be a part of that. When it comes to our military to military cooperation, it is progressing at a really good pace, and this year we are planning a total of 91 joint activities. Generals Pankov and Fomin have recently attended an exercise in Serbia, where the Russian Special Forces trained alongside our special units, and they showed excellent cooperation," said Stefanović, who took this opportunity to invite Minister Shoigu to visit the Republic of Serbia.
Minister Shoigu noted that Russia and Serbia had shared history, and pointed out that the two nations had largely contributed to the fight against the evil of fascism. “I think that the Republic of Serbia is pursuing an independent policy today. I would like to note that only strong armed forces can guarantee the independence of a country. We are committed to further developing bilateral cooperation and providing assistance to the Serbian Armed Forces in their capacity strengthening," Shoigu said.He commended the participation of the Serbian Armed Forces in the “International Military Games 2021", which, according to him, are not only a competition, but a demonstration of top training and readiness of service personnel. Minister Shoigu stated that by participating in joint exercises, our armed forces did not only demonstrate their level of training, but also confirmed our friendly relations in the field.
In his statement following the meeting, Stefanović said that participation in the 9th Moscow Conference on International Security was important for the Serbian delegation.
“It is an opportunity for us to talk openly about all security issues and the challenges facing not only Europe, of which we are part, but all parts of the world. I had the opportunity to talk to the Minister of Defence, General Shoigu, about strengthening our cooperation. Cooperation between Russia and Serbia is excellent, I would say at a historic high, but we will try to make it even better in the military to military and military-technical spheres in the coming period," Stefanović said. He also emphasized the importance of joint training and military-educational cooperation, which are the major areas of cooperation for every army that was thinking about its improvement.
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