18.04.2024.
Assistant Minister Bandić meets with Austrian Ambassador Ebner
Acting Assistant Minister for Defence Policy Predrag Bandić met today with the Ambassador of the Republic of Austria to Serbia, H.E. Christian Ebner.
On that occasion, Assistant Minister Bandić emphasized that the Republic of Serbia was fully committed to military neutrality and added that the Ministry of Defence would continue to pursue a balanced defence policy, striving to improve and further develop relations in the field of defence with partner countries and international organizations, in accordance with Serbia’s national interests and foreign policy priority goals.According to him, the vote for the so-called Kosovo’s membership of the Council of Europe is a grave violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Serbia as a full member of the United Nations, and is in contradiction with the mission and goals of those international institutions. Assistant Minister Bandić added that it would create an even bigger if not unbridgeable gap in the Belgrade-Priština dialogue.
The Republic of Serbia, Assistant Minister Bandić said, opposes the UN General Assembly adopting special resolutions for commemoration of individual genocides, which would threaten the dignity and equality of the victims.
Ambassador Ebner agreed that the cooperation between the two defence ministries was outstanding and conveyed the expectation that the cooperation would significantly improve in the future. He stressed that the Republic of Serbia was Austria’s important partner in the Western Balkans and highlighted the importance of the Republic of Serbia for the security of the European Union and Austria. As for Austria’s participation in KFOR, Ambassador Ebner confirmed that the country was reducing the number of its troops, but he also highlighted Austria’s undiminished support for the stability in the Western Balkans.After the meeting, the head of the Bilateral Cooperation Section of the International Military Cooperation Department, Colonel Goran Timotijević, and the Defence Attaché of the Republic of Austria to Serbia, Colonel Christian Smutek, signed the Bilateral Military Cooperation Plan 2024 between the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Austria
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