15.03.2018.
Minister of Defence meets with Chairman of the NATO Military Committee
The Minister of Defence of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vulin, and the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, General Petr Pavel, met today in the Small War Room of the Old General Staff building. At the meeting, the discussion was held about the current political and security situation in the region, cooperation between the Republic of Serbia and NATO, as well as the cooperation between the Serbian Armed Forces and KFOR.
According to Defence Minister Aleksandar Vulin, active engagement of the Republic of Serbia in the available mechanisms of the Partnership for Peace contributes to building the capabilities of the Serbian Armed Forces, and the principle of military neutrality remains the official and only policy of the Republic of Serbia.
- The Republic of Serbia is open to cooperation with its partners in both the West and the East, while maintaining its military neutrality. In this context, cooperation under the Partnership for Peace Programme represents an optimal framework for achieving security goals and improving defence capacities. For the Republic of Serbia, it is extremely important that NATO is going to continue to respect its concept of military neutrality in the following period, as it has been practice so far, the Minister of Defence said.
Minister Vulin thanked General Pavel for clarifying NATO's position that the Republic of Serbia, as well as the Serbs, or any other people, do not represent a disturbing agent in the Balkans. He added that the basic security threat for the Republic of Serbia is the process of secession of the territory of the AP Kosovo and Metohija and that the formation of the armed forces of so called Kosovo is unacceptable for Serbia.- Formation of the armed forces of so called Kosovo is unacceptable not only because of the valid UN SC Resolution 1244, but also because of the fact that only KFOR forces represent the guarantor of the security of the citizens of our southern province, and on this occasion, I thank NATO for its participation and constant presence in Kosovo and Metohija, Vulin said.
Minister Vulin added that the Serb population in Kosovo and Metohija has confidence in KFOR and peceives it as the only guarantor of their safety and security.
During his visit to the Republic of Serbia, General Pavel will meet separately with the Chief of General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces General Ljubiša Diković and representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is has also been scheduled for him to hold a lecture to the participants in the Advanced Security and Defence Studies and General Staff Course.
