27.02.2020.
Minister of Defense meets with the Vice-Chief of the Defense Staff of the United Kingdom Armed Forces
Minister of Defense Aleksandar Vulin met today with the Vice-Chief of Defense Staff of the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom, Admiral Timothy Fraser, who is on an official visit to the Republic of Serbia. The meeting was also attended by United Kingdom Ambassador to Serbia Shian Christina MacLeod.
Minister Vulin emphasized that in accordance with the policy of military neutrality, Serbia will continue to improve her relations with all countries and international organizations in the field of defense, according to her national interests and foreign policy priorities.
According to Minister Vulin, KFOR is most responsible for maintaining peace and security in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija, which is why Serbia strongly opposes the reduction of KFOR forces, and that Serbs have the highest confidence in KFOR, so reducing the number of KFOR members would be truly bad. He thanked the United Kingdom for engaging its members in KFOR forces, but indicated that what was particularly concerningwas the formation of the so-called “Kosovo Security Forces”and the establishment of a so-called “Kosovo Ministry of Defense”, which is absolutely unacceptable to Serbia and is a gross violation of Resolution 1244 and a serious threat to regional stability.“It is absolutely unacceptable for us to have any kind of Armed Forces created in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija, and especially not to by force, by any means, recruit Serbs to servein that or such an Armed Force,” said Minister Vulin.
“We are against the attack on the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro, and we are also concerned about the violation of the Dayton Agreement in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which seeks to disrupt the position of Republika Srpska, threatens the Serb population and thus causes further instability in the region,” Minister Vulin emphasized.
The Republic of Serbia and the President of the Republic and the Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces, Aleksandar Vučić, are making a full contribution to strengthening the stability and security in the region, and this remains one of the key priorities of our policy and our engagement, said Minister Vulin.Admiral Fraser emphasized that the British side is ready to continue providing support in the field of education, professional development and training of members of the Serbian Armed Forces, as well as concrete assistance in destroying surplus ordnance that represents a security threat in this area.
The interlocutors agree that the overall bilateral relations between the two countries are good, including cooperation in the field of defense, within which 33 activities are planned in 2020.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the Bilateral Military Cooperation Plan for 2020 was signed by Colonel Miroslav Glišić from the Department for International Military Cooperation and United Kingdom Defense Attaché to Belgrade, Colonel Nik Ilić.
