27.09.2017.
Intensive cooperation with the Hellenic Republic
Defence Minister Aleksandar Vulin has been received by the Minister of National Defence of Greece Panos Kammenos in Athens, today, with the highest military honours. The two ministers discussed possibilities for enhancing defence cooperation, as well as the current security issues.
Vulin and Kammenos agreed that defence cooperation follows the level of overall bilateral relations between the two countries that have been traditionally friendly, which was confirmed in the most difficult situations, as evidenced by the fact that during the NATO bombing Kammenos visited Serbia in solidarity with the Serbian people, on which Minister Vulin thanked him once again.
Minister Vulin said that the common close and brotherly past is the basis for the development of future quality relations, and the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Serbia is committed to further substantive development of cooperation with the Hellenic Republic, so that in the field of defence they can reach the level of cooperation that has already been established in the political, cultural and other spheres of life.
He pointed out that members of the armed forces, through the execution of joint exercises in both Serbia and Greece, significantly contribute to raising the operational and functional capabilities of the two armies, but also stressed the need "to utilize enormous potential for enhancing cooperation in the field of intelligence and special services, to continue cooperation through military education, increase the number of officers who will be educated, both Serbian officers in Greek schools and Greek officers in Serbian schools, but also to improve our cooperation in the field of defence industry.
- The Greek partners have an interest in certain defence products such as "Lasta", Alas rocket system and certain types of ammunition, which we hope to present this year to our friends right here, but also in the possibility of joint appearance in third markets where we can take advantage of technology and influence in countries where we can sell our military products, Vulin said, emphasizing that Minister Kammenos informed us that by the end of the year we will adopt a law that will allow for investment in the defence industry, which will be open space also for Greek investors.
Minister Kammenos, who received the delegation of the Serbian Ministry of Defence with words uttered in the Serbian language "Brothers Serbs, the Greeks are with you", agreed that Serbia and Greece, in addition to the close friendship that implies support for the Serbian struggle for the preservation of territorial integrity and sovereignty, are connected with the common European path. He said that the Serbian people, in the situation in which they found themselves in Kosovo and Metohija, was in fact the first victim of globalization, and that his support to Serbia in 1999 marked the support for respecting international treaties, legitimate borders, peace and democracy. Therefore, he emphasized the importance of cooperation between the two countries, and the whole region, in combating terrorism and the preservation of overall stability.
The Greek Minister of Defence underlined readiness to continue supporting and sharing experiences in the European integration process, especially in the engagement of the Republic of Serbia in the HELBROC EU battle group, where Greece is the leading nation.
During the visit, the Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff, Admiral Evangelos Apostolakis, signed a note on the accession of Serbia to the Technical Agreement on the establishment of HELBROC, and on that occasion, Minister Vulin said:
- It is a great pleasure for me to say that by the signature of the Greek side today we have become part of the HELBROC EU battle group, which consists of Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece and Ukraine. As you can see, the Serbian Armed Forces is highly appreciated and all these countries accepted the participation of our army without any conditioning. The participation of our army will be at the level of a military police platoon, staff officers, up to five staff officers, and of course representatives in the civil-military cooperation office and our participation will be operational by 2020.
Vulin emphasized that this is a great confirmation of the operational capabilities of our armed forces and a great recognition of our country's policy "which manages to preserve military neutrality and to ensure that our military neutrality in no way prevents neither our policy nor our armed forces to fight against the greatest evil of the modern world, to fight terrorism, to participate in all regional initiatives such as HELBROC, to participate everywhere where we can proudly say that we are on the right side of the world. This is an important day for us, and this is yet another opportunity for us to show that we are valued both as a people and as a state, both as a policy and as an army. According to the composition of countries, as you can see, we are among friends. It is not by chance, only one country recognized Kosovo and Metohija, while others did not. And we were very careful about this when we chose where we will appear and in which group we will participate.
By exchanging views on the political and security situation, the ministers underlined the necessity of joint action and the uniform response of the entire international community to complex security challenges, including the migration crisis. Consequently, the interlocutors reiterated their interest in cooperation within regional initiatives and support to the regional cooperation.
During the official visit to Athens, Minister Vulin also met with Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos, laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Syntagma Square, and tomorrow he is scheduled to meet with the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Ieronymos II.
