Serbian parliamentarians visit NATO Headquarters
In cooperation with the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, NATO’s Public Diplomacy Division hosted a group of Serbian members of parliament on 5 March. The visit is part of efforts to strengthen NATO’s relations with Serbian key decision-makers and to broaden the public debate about Serbia’s partnership and cooperation with the Alliance.
As a part of a three-day educational programme, members of the Defence and Internal Affairs Committee, the Security Services Control Committee and representatives of the national delegation to NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA) visited NATO Headquarters, the NATO PA, the Belgian Parliament and other institutions.
Along with 21 other partner countries, Serbia is a member of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council and participates in the Partnership for Peace programme, cooperating actively in areas of defence and security sector reform.
“NATO values its partners. Global challenges demand global answers – and the broadest possible international cooperation. For over 60 years, NATO has been the global gold standard in security cooperation and we will strengthen that role still further,” explained the Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy Ambassador Kolinda Grabar in her keynote speech.
Discussions touched on a number of topics ranging from NATO’s military operations, including the role of the NATO-led peace-support operation in Kosovo, to new security threats and challenges, and areas of cooperation as agreed between NATO and Serbia.
The Serbian government has indicated an interest in developing an Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) with NATO. The IPAP is a jointly agreed framework in which a partner nation lays out its reform goals and the areas where NATO can provide assistance to achieve those goals. It would help to organise NATO-Serbia cooperation, ensuring that NATO and NATO Allies can provide support to assist Serbia in achieving its reform goals.
The IPAP offers an important step forward in the NATO-Serbia relationship, as it will allow NATO and Serbia to deepen both their political consultation and practical cooperation.