13.09.2016.
Defence Minister with the Head of the UN Office in Belgrade
Defence Minister Zoran Djordjevic received today Simona-Mirela Miculescu, Head of the UN Office in Belgrade, with whom he talked about the participation of the Republic of Serbia in the UN peacekeeping missions and the continuation of further cooperation. The theme of the meeting was the recently held UN Conference on Peacekeeping in London in which Minister Djordjevic also took part.During the meeting, it was pointed out that since 2003, Serbia has continuously improved its participation in peacekeeping operations qualitatively and quantitatively and that the engagement in this area contributed to the maintenance of international peace and security.
The Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces currently participate with 332 members of the Serbian Armed Forces in seven UN- and three EU-led peacekeeping operations, Minister Djordjevic said stressing that due to the long tradition, quality, competence and capability, Serbia pays special attention to the involvement of military medical facilities in multinational operations.
The Republic of Serbia is persistent in the struggle to resolve conflicts, keeping peace on a global level, and attaches great importance to respecting the right to equality, equal participation and representation of women and men in all spheres of social life, Djordjevic said. This is illustrated by the information of more than 11 percent of women who participate in multinational operations.When it comes to solving the migrant crisis, although not a member of the European Union but only a candidate, Serbia is trying to act as a responsible member of the international community and to provide an adequate response to the current crisis, to assume its share of the burden and share the responsibility, Minister Djordjevic said stressing that Serbia is ready and wishes to be part of the solution within the European framework, but primarily takes care of its own national interests and their protection. In this sense, joint force made up of the members of the Serbian Armed Forces and the Ministry of Interior were engaged to secure 464 km of the state border with Bulgaria and Macedonia.
