11.02.2017.
Defence Minister visits the Russian Federation
Defence Minister Zoran Đorđevic is paying an official visit to the Russian Federation. Today in Moscow, Đorđević has met with Valery Anatolyevich Semerikov, Acting Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), with whom he discussed the promotion of cooperation with this organization.
During the talks, Minister Đorđević stressed that Serbia continued to develop and improve cooperation with the CSTO and bilateral partnerships with members of the CSTO, primarily the traditionally good and friendly relations with Russia, Belarus and Armenia. We hope that in the forthcoming period, apart from the developed relations in the field of defence, economic relations with these partners will also get enhanced, since we are trying to create as favourable conditions as possible for the economic progress, attracting foreign investors, Đorđević said at the meeting.
During the talks, the minister emphasized that the membership of the EU and the policy of military neutrality were the key objectives of the foreign policy of our country, but he also reiterated that Serbia would not join the imposition of sanctions to the Russian Federation. Đorđević expressed his thanks for the assistance that the CSTO member states unreservedly give Serbia in its struggle to preserve the territorial integrity and sovereignty in the area of Kosovo and Metohija.
During the conversation, the Minister of Defence confirmed his intention to participate in CSTO activities of common interest. Acting Secretary General of CSTO underlined the importance of expanding cooperation in the fight against terrorism and the fight against drug trafficking. Semerikov invited the Republic of Serbia to participate as an observer in joint exercises in 2017. The interlocutors agreed that it was necessary to expand the levels and areas of cooperation in accordance with the current issues of global and regional security, as well as that the representatives of the two sides will participate in several activities planned for this year.
During his visit to Moscow, Defence Minister Zoran Đorđević met with the Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation, Alexander Vasilyevich Fomin, as well as with the Director of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, Dmitry Yevgenyevich Shugayev, with whom he discussed the further enhancement of cooperation between the two countries in the field of defence.
Đorđević and Fomin analysed the results of bilateral military cooperation in 2016 and discussed new areas of cooperation between the armed forces of Serbia and the Russian Federation in the forthcoming period. Special attention was paid to the development of the Serbian-Russian relations in the military-technical cooperation and delivery of arms and military equipment.
Minister Đorđević and Deputy Minister Fomin exchanged views on a number of current issues of global and regional security.
