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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Partnership with NATO important element of state policy

Belgrade, 13 November 2019

First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said today that our country is looking to the future and is committed to improving defense and security cooperation with NATO members and partners.

Serbia has positioned itself on the international scene as a responsible, predictable and credible partner, contributing to peacekeeping and improving security in the region, while at the same time sharing responsibility more widely in promoting conflict resolution and in addressing security challenges, he said.

Our country is actively working on adopting proposals for new strategic documents, such as national security and defense strategies, that will be aligned with the EU Global Strategy. This approach is the best evidence that Serbia is ready to join new European initiatives, whenever the conditions are right.

Also, Serbia is continuously raising regional topics aimed at increasing the attractiveness of the entire Western Balkans, which should result in increased investment and increased trade, as a basis for accelerated economic development.

The initiative of President Vucic and Prime Ministers Edi Rama and Zoran Zaev on the so-called regional "mini Schengen", which I hope will be supported by other actors in the region, should create conditions for faster flow of people and capital, but also for the prosperity of the entire region, while enhancing stability.

Partnership with NATO is a very important element of Serbia's national policy and our endeavor to keep the region permanently stable. Cooperation with NATO is based on respect for Serbia's military neutrality policy, without requiring our country to become a member of the Alliance.

A particularly important segment of Serbia's cooperation with NATO is the situation in Kosovo and Metohija, which is the biggest political and security challenge for Serbia. We believe that only a compromise solution reached by the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, with the support of the international community, can ensure lasting peace and stability.

Serbia strongly opposes the transformation of the so-called "Kosovo Security Force" into the so-called "Kosovo Army" because it violates UNSCR 1244 and threatens regional and wider stability.

Unfortunately, the departure of these formations into predominantly Serb environments has occurred repeatedly and is a move that carries with it the potential to escalate in unmanageable proportions.

That is why we expect KFOR, in accordance with its mandate, to act preventively so that some future similar actions in northern Kosovo-Metohija are prevented, Dacic said.