04.04.2019.
State Secretary Živković meets with the Director General of the EU Military Staff Pulkkinen
State Secretary Aleksandar Živković has met with Director General of the European Union Military Staff Lieutenant General Esa Pulkkinen in Belgrade, today. The Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Serbia and the European Union Military Staff have established regular contacts at the highest level, thus substantially contributing to building of peace and stability. It has been assessed that this meeting contributes to further strengthening of mutual trust and understanding and creates a solid basis for enhanced cooperation.
State Secretary Živković emphasized the significant contribution of the Republic of Serbia to missions and operations under the auspices of the European Union, stating that in the three missions and one operation of the European Union we are currently participating with 22 members. In the forthcoming period, the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces are ready to continue their engagement.
Commencement of participation in EU’s civilian missions is one of the most important priorities in the forthcoming period, and the Republic of Serbia has begun building national capacities for deploying civilians to multinational operations. At the end of November 2018, the Peacekeeping Operations Centre of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces conducted the first training for persons from the line ministries that will be engaged in the EU’s civilian missions.It was assessed that the active participation of representatives of the Republic of Serbia in the meetings of the EU Military Committee, EU Force Generation Conferences, as well as at the meetings of the Coordination Conference and the EU Battlegroup Community in Brussels is a good platform for the exchange of information, opinions and acquiring insight into the situation on the ground. In addition, pleasure has been expressed with the nomination of the national liaison officer of the Republic of Serbia to the European Union Military Staff in November 2017, which was mutually accepted and yielded significant results regarding the establishment of faster and more efficient cooperation and information exchange between the two sides. The first engagement of Serbia in the HELBROC Battle Group will be in the first half of 2020, and it will contribute to further building of military capabilities and achieving interoperability with EU member states.
Regarding the preservation of regional security, it was stated that for Serbia KFOR was the only internationally recognised entity with the role of preserving and promoting peace and security in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija, in accordance with its mandate assigned to it by UNSC Resolution 1244. It was emphasised that the decision to reduce KFOR should depend on the ongoing assessment of the development of the political and military conditions and the security status indicators, not calendar-driven.
Lieutenant General Pulkkinen thanked Serbia for its contribution to EU military missions and operations and, as a commander of EU military missions, he informed his interlocutor about the current situation in EUTM Somalia, EUTM Mali, EUTM RCA, for which he is responsible as the Director of the Military Planning and Conduct Capability .
