Chief of NATO Military Liaison Office Brigadier General Tommaso Vitale expressed gratitude to the Foreign Minister Nikola Selakovic, State Secretary Nemanja Starovic and Acting Assistant Minister for Security Policy Dijana Ivancic for an opportunity to brief Serbian officials experts on NATO Serbia partnership.
Thanks to the interdepartmental working approach taken by Serbia, NATO and Serbia are successfully developing this partnership
Chief MLO Belgrade explained how for past 15 years, through hard work and dedication, especially thanks to the interdepartmental working approach taken by Serbia to implement the documents encompassing the working mechanism of the Partnership, NATO and Serbia were able to develop this partnership steadily, working side by side on many projects, improving it even more, day by day, through a mutually beneficial cooperation.
"Today, I can proudly say that NATO and Serbia are close partners. In fully respecting Serbia's stated policy of military neutrality, during these years we have strengthened our partnership through a very well-structured mechanisms. To NATO, Serbia is a neighbor, a reliable and valuable partner, that plays an important role in keeping peace and security in the region. This leads me to say that the relations between Serbia and the Alliance are excellent, mutually beneficial and based on reciprocal respect" - said Vitale.
Amb. Dijana Ivancic, Chief MLO Belgrade Tommaso Vitale, State Secretary Nemanja Starovic at the briefing in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Serbia is one of the most important partners to NATO
During the briefing, Chief MLO Belgrade pointed out that recently adopted NATO 2030 agenda emphasized the importance of partnerships for NATO. "In this sense, Serbia is one of the most important partners for us, and NATO highly appreciates the commitment of Serbia in dealing with the main mechanism of our partnership", said General Vitale.
He continued by saying that NATO highly respect the Serbian public opinion. "We are doing our very best to explain what NATO is, to engage with Serbian public, with the aim of presenting an accurate and factual image of NATO, its principles, its democratic values and of our long-standing partnership with Serbia. I would also like to underline that the ever open, friendly yet respectful direct communication line between President Vucic and SG Stoltenberg contributed immensely to enhanced political dialogue and mutual understanding and trust", concluded Vitale.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in NATO HQ Brussels, May 2021