13.12.2017.

Better cooperation makes foundations for peace and stability in the region

Defence Minister Aleksandar Vulin has met today in Sarajevo with Minister of Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina Marina Pendeš with whom he discussed the current security situation in the region and ways to improve the defence cooperation.

The two ministers agreed that countries should have a common response when it comes to natural disasters affecting the entire region, that there is good joint participation in peacekeeping missions, and that it is important to monitor the migrant crisis that could jeopardize both Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as that all asymmetric threats that are now imposed on the whole world should be taken into account.

Thanking for the warm welcome, Defence Minister Aleksandar Vulin said that it is of the utmost interest to the Republic of Serbia to see a stable, strong and successful Bosnia and Herzegovina.

- It is important for us that Bosnia and Herzegovina is peaceful, Bosnia and Herzegovina of all its citizens, Bosnia and Herzegovina in which population and the people feel well, which is developing, Vulin said.

Emphasizing that at our Military Academy, at this moment, 27 officers of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina are being trained, Vulin said:

- We are very proud of this and pleased that we can transfer our knowledge and experience to them and all what would make an officer successful tomorrow, a future officer and someone who will take care of the security of their country and the safety of their members who were entrusted to them, Vulin said.

He confirmed that Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina are participating in peacekeeping missions together and are able to help others.

- That is why I am very proud and pleased that today we discussed the future and the positions of the defence industry, the possibility to appear somewhere together, certainly to be good partners to each other. I also wish to thank you for a principled position that General Jeleč, Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina stated during the A5 session in Ohrid when he made it clear that a representative of Kosovo and Metohija cannot be presented differently than according to the agreed formula and I wish to thank exactly for this principled position. I believe in respecting principles and international law that can always help understanding between the countries, Minister Vulin said.

Defence Minister Aleksandar Vulin invited BiH Defence Minister Marina Pendeš to come to an official visit and announced the signing of appropriate bilateral military cooperation agreements.

- All the agreed activities that we planned for this year have mostly been done. I expect that such high percentage of success will continue next year and that we will continue to cooperate. It has been long since the Minister of Defence of the Republic of Serbia was in Sarajevo, and here, this is an opportunity to say that we should not make such a long break in the future, but to see, meet, think and work for the benefit of both countries, Minister Vulin concluded.

Minister of Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina Marina Pendeš believes that the visit of Minister of Defence of the Republic of Serbia Aleksandar Vulin is one of important indicators of the commitment of these two countries and two ministries to good cooperation. Expressing her satisfaction because the 2017 plan of joint activities has been almost completely fulfilled, she pointed out that the focus for the next year will be on better cooperation in the exchange and education of people in both countries, as well as military cooperation in addressing the natural disasters and accidents and she thanked Minister Vulin because this summer, when there were fires in the south of Bosnia and Herzegovina, he offered assistance of SAF resources.

- I think we have jointly agreed that peace, stability and security in this part of Southeast Europe are crucial to both countries, that we have excellent cooperation within regional forums involving our chiefs of defence, but also defence ministers, when we are talking about A5, B9 and B7 and so on. We also jointly participate in the Medical Task Force, because we established headquarters in Skopje two years ago, Minister Pendeš said.

Minister Pendeš pointed out that she and Minister Vulin discussed the possibilities of cooperation in the framework of public procurement and that, if the Law on Public Procurement is amended, the capacities can be used not only in the Republic of Serbia, but also in Bosnia and Herzegovina, because the defence industry is something that is supported by both countries in terms of development.

- I assess this visit as very important. This is a visit to a friendly country, a partner country. I think this is a good message not only for our two countries, but for the whole region as well.

At the end, Defence Minister Aleksandar Vulin reiterated that Serbia is militarily neutral and will continue to conduct its policy.

- We believe that this policy is the best and most optimum for us. How would anyone in the neighbourhood behave it is their right and we do not take the right for us to determine anyone's policies, to determine what they are going to do, what they will think. Everyone needs to estimate, in accordance with the interests of their citizens, what is the best for them, and I repeat once again that this decision, as well as any other decision in accordance with the Dayton Agreement, which is of great importance, must be made with the consent of the two entities and three nations. Everything that the three peoples and the two entities in BiH agree on is completely acceptable to us, Vulin said.

Minister Vulin also added that the countries carry out arms control among themselves, and that there is no violation of the signed provisions in this sense, or any problems:

- It is very much obeyed that you cannot evaluate yourself, but others evaluate you, so the possibility of error is completely excluded, Vulin added.

Referring to the situation in the region, the Minister of Defence said that the state of Serbia is absolutely oriented to peace and that as one of the key countries in the region it is also a guarantor of peace.

- Head of the state is President Aleksandar Vučić who is the Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces, and he is a man who is always committed to peace, very often to his own detriment. He is pretty much able to ignore "enhanced" rhetoric and not so benevolent statements and sentences, thus preserving peace and stability in the whole region, Vulin stressed.

He reminded that Serbia has never been the first country to start sharp rhetoric:

- You will recall, and I am sure that you will support me when I tell you that never has a single heavy or too heavy statement come from the Republic of Serbia first. We take great care of it and want to be a factor of stability and peace in this area, and the very person who leads the Republic of Serbia, by his personal example, has proved that it is exactly like that, Vulin said.

Minister Vulin and his associates also visited the Peace Support Operations Training Centre in Butmir and Special Purpose Engine Factory a.d. Pale to see possibilities for cooperation with the Serbian defence industry.