NATO and Serbia discuss progress on Military Cooperation

Talks mainly focused on the evolution of the security situation in the Balkans, progress in military cooperation between NATO and Serbia, and on the reform of the Serbian Armed Forces. On partnership, specific attention was given to the Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP), which was recently approved by the North Atlantic Council and which constitutes an important step forward in NATO-Serbia relations, allowing deeper political dialogue and practical cooperation.

Adm. Di Paola also participated with Professor Tanja Miscevic, State Secretary of the Serbian Ministry of Defense, in a roundtable discussion on “NATO in the New Security Environment” and on “Defence Reform in Serbia in light of Modern Security Challenges”, organized by the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy. Later, Adm. Di Paola elaborated on the new security threats, and their increasingly global and unpredictable nature with students of the Serbian Army General Staff.

Praising Serbia for the successful organisation of the Strategic Military Partnership Conference and for its progress in military cooperation with NATO, the Chairman emphasised: “the key word is flexibility, because things are changing too fast to remain a prisoner of patterns of the past. Only flexibility and cooperative approach to security can help us - Allies and Partners - to remain in line with the strategic environment. The complex realities we are and will be facing cannot be addressed by one player only. This is why Partnerships are a guarantee for peace and stability at regional level”.