MLO Belgrade  /  Newsroom  /  News Archive  /  2021  /  NATO is committed to its partnership with Serbia

BELGRADE - Chief MLO Belgrade Tommaso Vitale met with Serbian Foreign Minister Nikola Selakovic. He underlined that NATO is committed to its partnership with Serbia and that the two are working together to promote peace and stability. Strengthening NATO-Serbia relations benefits the Alliance, Serbia, and the region.

NATO-Serbia partnership – 15 years of success, prosperity, stability and cooperation 

This year, Serbia and NATO will mark the 15th anniversary since Serbia joined the Partnership for Peace, which set the grounds for the ever-improving mutually beneficial partnership. Chief MLO Belgrade and the Serbian Foreign Minister expressed readiness to mark the anniversary in an appropriate way, celebrating NATO-Serbia partnership.

Chief of the NATO Military Liaison Office in Belgrade, Brigadier General Tommaso Vitale met with Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikola Selakovic

At the meeting, both parties emphasized that Serbia and NATO share an interest in maintaining peace and stability in the region, as well as the commitment to further enhancing partnership cooperation in all areas of common interest, with full respect for the policy of military neutrality of Serbia.

NATO's partnerships are, and will continue to be, essential to the way NATO works

Serbian Foreign Minister thanked NATO for respecting the military neutrality of Serbia and for its continuous support to protecting people and cultural heritage in Kosovo, underlining that Serbia highly appreciates the engagement of KFOR in ensuring a stable and safe environment and freedom of movement for all.

Serbian Foreign Minister Nikola Selakovic

Both sides expressed satisfaction with the ongoing political dialogue at the highest level, as well as practical military and civilian cooperation in a number of areas within the Partnership for Peace Programme, with more than a hundred partnership activities, carried out annually, adding that the successful implementation of the second cycle of the Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) between Serbia and NATO for the period 2019-2021 is underway. That is why Chief MLO Belgrade underlined the messages NATO Secretary General delivered during Serbian President Vucic's visit to NATO Headquarters earlier this year, when he thanked Vucic for his personal commitment to NATO-Serbia partnership, underlining that Serbia is a long-standing partner to our Alliance.

"NATO has been committed to peace and stability in the Western Balkans for decades. Strengthening NATO-Serbia relations would be of benefit to the Alliance, to Serbia, and to the whole region."

NATO and Serbia are partners and neighbors. When neighbors work together all of us are safer and more prosperous

Chief NATO MLO Belgrade Brigadier General Tommaso Vitale 

Brigadier General Tommaso Vitale underlined the conclusions of NATO's Brussels Summit when the Allies said they will intensify efforts in the region and enhance political dialogue and practical cooperation in order to support reform efforts, promote regional peace and security, and counter the malign influence of outside actors. Democratic values, the rule of law, domestic reforms, and good neighborly relations are vital for regional cooperation and Euro-Atlantic integration, and we look forward to continued progress in this regard.