03.07.2023.
Minister Vučević Meets Crosetto
Today, in Rome, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Miloš Vučević met Minister of Defence of the Italian Republic Guido Crosetto in the framework of a two-day visit to that country. The two officials exchanged views on the possibilities for overcoming the current crisis in Kosovo and Metohija. Other topics of the talks were the enhancement of defence cooperation, and military economic and military technical cooperation between Serbia and Italy.
Minister Crosetto welcomed Minister Vučević with state and military honours. After the ceremony, the two delegations had a meeting after which followed tête-à-tête talks of the two ministers.
Minister Vučević expressed his satisfaction with the return visit to the Italian Republic, after Minister Crosetto had stayed in Belgrade in November the previous year. Vučević stressed that the visit from the Italian colleague had been the first visit after his appointment to the duty, which was the proof of the significance of the cooperation between Serbia and Italy in the field of defence, and development of the overall bilateral relations.
According to Minister Vučević, Serbia appreciates the long-standing presence of the Armed Forces of Italy in KFOR operation. He underlined the importance of their engagement as one of the most numerous contingents in that mission.
As Minister Vučević evaluated “the relations between the Serbian Armed Forces and KFOR are good, and it is in the interest of our country to further enhance them, having in mind that Serbia perceives KFOR as the only legitimate armed force in the area of Kosovo and Metohija, and a guarantor of the security of the Serbian people in our southern province”. Minister Vučević stressed that the security of KFOR members is unquestionable and it represents the priority for Serbia.
Minister Vučević familiarised Minister Crosetto with the position of the Republic of Serbia regarding the aggressive policy of the provisional institutions from Priština, which, supported by certain countries, has led to the escalation of crisis in Kosovo and Metohija. He conveyed the request of Belgrade for the momentary release of imprisoned Serbs and putting stop to further arrests, as well as the withdrawal of false mayors and special forces of the so-called Kosovo Police, and the urgent establishment of the Association of Serb Municipalities.
The two officials confirmed the good quality of development of defence cooperation between Serbia and Italy, and they highly evaluated the cooperation in the field of peacekeeping missions since members of the Serbian Armed Forces and members of the Italian Armed Forces participate together in the United Nations multinational operation UNIFIL in Lebanon. Both sides expressed their readiness to enhance the cooperation in that UN mission.
Minister Vučević and Crosetto established that there is still room for the enhancement of the bilateral military cooperation in the field of joint training, military education and military medicine, and in domains of military technical and military economic cooperation. At the meeting, the interlocutors launched an initiative to establish a joint work group of the ministries of defence of Serbia and Italy that will explore the possibilities and modalities for the development of military technical and military economic cooperation.
The programme for the second day of the visit to Italy envisages a meeting between Minister Vučević and Deputy Prime Minister of that country Matteo Salvini, and the delegation of our Ministry of Defence will visit the company “Leonardo”, which is one of European leaders in the field of defence technologies.
