14.06.2024.
Meeting between defence ministers of Serbia, Azerbaijan in Baku
As part of his official visit to Azerbaijan, Minister of Defence Bratislav Gašić met with Azerbaijani Minister of Defence, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov, in Baku today.
The topics of today's meeting were defence cooperation and concrete ways to improve it, as well as the current politico-security situation.The meeting between Serbian and Azerbaijani defence ministers, with the two countries’ delegations in attendance, was held after an official welcoming honour guard ceremony and the playing of national anthems.
Minister Gašić thanked his counterpart for the kind invitation and the hospitality shown, and expressed his pleasure at staying in this brotherly and friendly country. According to him, the relationship between the presidents of Serbia and Azerbaijan, Aleksandar Vučić and Ilham Aliyev, reflects the traditional friendship between the two countries and is a solid foundation for the further development of bilateral relations.
Minister Gašić conveyed Serbia’s deep appreciation for Azerbaijan’s principled and unreserved support for Serbia’s territorial integrity and wholeness and for advocating in numerous international organizations for the southern Serbian province of Kosovo and Metohija.According to him, Serbia will never recognize the unilaterally proclaimed independence of the so-called Kosovo and it is committed to achieving a peaceful resolution to all issues through political dialogue with Priština, with strict adherence to United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 and the Military-Technical Agreement.
Minister Gašić emphasized Serbia’s long-term strategic commitment to military neutrality and determination to maintain that status.
When it comes to the defence cooperation with Azerbaijan, Minister Gašić said that one of our country’s strategic goals was to improve and broaden the cooperation in the fields of military training, military economy and military technology.
Significant progress has been made in bilateral military cooperation, the two ministers agreed, and the two countries’ ministries of defence and armed forces will carry out numerous cooperation activities in the fields of military education, military medicine, strategic planning and military to military cooperation in the upcoming period.
Minister Hasanov extended a warm welcome to Minister Gašić and congratulated him on his new role. According to Minister Hasanov, relations between Serbia and Azerbaijan are good and cooperation between the two countries is constantly improving, including the defence cooperation, and special progress has been achieved in the fields of military-economic and military-technical cooperation.
Minister Gašić then signed the honoured guests’ book of Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Defence.The meeting was attended by the members of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces delegation, led by Minister Gašić - Acting Assistant Minister for Defence Policy Predrag Bandić, Head of the Logistics Department (J-4), SAF General Staff, Maj. Gen. Srđan Petković, and Head of the Defence Technologies Department, Material Resources Sector, Brig. Gen. Slavko Rakić, as well as the Ambassador of Serbia to Azerbaijan, Dragan Vladisavljević, and the Serbian Defence Attaché in Baku, Col. Mile Čeliković.
Today, Minister Gašić laid a wreath on the grave of national leader Heydar Alyiev and flowers on the grave of his wife Zarifa in the Alley of Honour. He also laid a wreath near the Eternal Flame monument, and flowers on some of the graves in the Martyrs’ Lane in Baku.