STATEMENT NOTES FOR STATE SECRETARY DUŠAN SPASOJEVIĆ
at The International Institute for Strategic Studies
London, 5th February 2010
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is my pleasure to greet you and to present to you briefly our views on the contribution of Serbia to regional and global security, as well as the key tasks and goals for the period to come, which we realise within our function of supporting the implementation of Serbia’s foreign policy. In the planning and implementation of those goals and tasks, the Ministry of Defence was guided, among other factors, by Serbia’s basic foreign policy priorities.
Building from the fact that a modern and reformed defence system is key to the foreign policy potential of a country, defence system reform is one of the fundamental strategic considerations.
In the last year, the National Assembly adopted significant strategic documents – the National Security Strategy, the National Defence Strategy and the Strategic Defence Review - as well as adopting six parliamentary Bills on defence.
The consequences of the world economic crisis have had a negative effect on the realisation of our plans. I can say with certainty that if there had not been a decrease in the military budget and an absence in the procurement of armaments, equipment and investments in infrastructure, the Ministry of Defence would have fulfilled the reform plan in its entirety.
We are particularly proud of the fact that, in such conditions, we managed to complete the construction of the Armed Forces base 'South' in the south of Serbia, next to Bujanovac. We also plan to use the base as a training area for units of foreign armed forces as well as for training, conducted by foreign instructors, of our forces that are designated as potential forces for deployment on multinational operations. The local population has welcomed the base, which represents good potential for economic development of that area.
When we talk about regional cooperation, and in accordance with the Government’s prioroty to constantly enhance cooperation with countries of the region, the Ministry of Defence has carried out bilateral meetings at the highest level, with the majority of Sout-east European (SEE) countries from Ankara to Ljubljana.
Remaining committed to peaceful policies, and after the passing of the advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice in The Hague, we expect the continuation of the negotiations regarding the status of Kosovo and Metohija.
Serbia desires to be a part of solution in Kosovo and Metohija, not part of the problem and it desires that Kosovo and Metohija together with Serbia accede to the EU. We wish to return to the negotiation table and to find a compromise solution, which implies the presence of Serbia in Kosovo and does not advocate only the interests of the Albanians.
Admission of Serbia to full membership in the South East Europe Defence Ministerial - SEDM (on 21st October 2009), after four years of participation in the initiative as an observer, is evidence of Serbia being a reliable partner in strengthening regional peace and stability.
During ten years of democracy, the main goal of democratic forces in the country has been the introduction of Serbia into the EU. Applying for candidacy for membership of the EU is a clearsign oftheEuropean orientation of Serbia, which should be accepted positively both in the EU and in the region. The implementation of the Interim Trade agreement supports this notion.
Serbia shall fulfil its commitments, including cooperation with The Hague Tribunal and find solutions for all the issues in the region. This is not important solely for the development of Serbia but for the entire region as well.
Serbia will do everything to obtain the status of an EU candidate by December this year. We expect that the ratification of SAA in EU countries will start as soon as possible.
We expect that we will carry our all our tasks on our road towards full EU membership in the next several years.
Cooperation with KFOR
We are concerned about the reduction of KFOR troops, and we expect that NATO will closely monitor the situation on the ground and inform us in advance about any planned changes.
Practical cooperation between Serbia and NATO is reflected through the collaboration of the Serbian Armed Forces and KFOR. Serbia perceives KFOR as a key factor for stability in the region, and cooperation with KFOR is one of the priority tasks of the Serbian Armed Forces.
Although since the deployment of the NATO mission the quality of cooperation between the Serbian Armed Forces and KFOR has continuously shown an upward trend a certain stagnation in the relationship has occurred due to the decision of NATO to engage KFOR in building the so-called Kosovo Security Forces. That decision led to a temporary suspension of meetings between the representatives of the Serbian Armed Forces and KFOR at the highest level, but regular communication on the ground continued.
When talking about the contribution of Serbia to global security, one of the central tasks in 2009 was participation in multinational operations under the auspices of the United Nations. In addition to the three existing missions in DR Congo, Ivory Coast and Liberia, during the last year the Ministry of Defence began with its involvement in the multinational United Nations Operation in the Republic of Chad, where 21 members of our Armed Forces are currently deployed. It is important to note that the involvement of MoD and SAF in this mission was approved by the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia for the first time.
The total number of service personnel engaged in four multinational operations is 34, but the figure does not match our ambitions and capacities, so this year we have been planning to intensify the engagement by increasing the number of personnel and missions. There are the talks being held to deploy our members to the multinational operation in Lebanon, as a part of the Spanish contingent, together with the Italians and the French, to UNFICYP in Cyprus, with the Slovaks and Hungarians.
We see the deficit in numbers of medical staff in Peacekeeping Operations (PKO) as our big chancebecause in this area we can be recognized as one of the key contributors of military medical personnel for involvement in PKO. We will plan and develop our capacities in that direction. However, apart from the medical teams, we consider the possibility of increasing our participation in PKO also through the involvement of staff officers, civil-military cooperation teams and military police units.
Cooperation with NATO
Serbia is dedicated to building as better relations with NATO as far as possible through the Partnership for Peace (PfP) programme, because such relations correspond best to the geographical position and foreign policy interests of our country.
The issue of NATO membership is still not on the agenda but we expect that in the current year a constructive debate on this issue will be opened.
Regardless of the political decision on Serbia's cooperation with NATO, which will be made at the state level, our goal is to reach the status of an “Advanced” Participant in the PfP programme, like Austria, Switzerland, Finland, Sweden and Ireland.
Involvement in the PfP is not in collision with military neutrality, which was voted for by the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia in December 2007.
Serbia welcomes the decision by NATO to approve Membership Action Plan (MAP) to Montenegro and supports the efforts of Bosnia and Herzegovina to achieve the same status.
Signing the Security Agreement with NATO on 1 October 2008 created the conditions for intensifying cooperation with NATO and the opening of the Mission of the Republic of Serbia to NATO, which was established on 18 December 2009 when our Ambassador submitted credentials to the Secretary General of NATO.
A one-star General was appointed to be military representative of the Republic of Serbia to NATO. He will take office after the preparations to be conducted in March 2010. MoD plans to send another six experts from the Services of the Serbian Armed Forces and two experts from the field of defence policy. Their appointments will be phased in accordance with the schedule for completing the military part of the Mission.
The Individual Partnership Program for 2010-11 is mostly focused on achieving Partnership Goals of the Planning and Review Process (PARP) and NATO rated it as very good.
Bilateral Cooperation
International military cooperation is a powerful tool for promoting the reform process in the MoD and SAF, building and improving partnership relations with more than 50 countries and armies, and represents a considerable support to the foreign policy of Serbia.
In the last two years 21 international treaties were signed.
In the past two years, cooperation with China, as one of the pillars of the foreign policy, was at a high level and is growing steadily. An Agreement was signed on defence cooperation which resulted in mutual visits at the level of Ministers. I will point out that the visit of the Minister of Defence of China to Serbia was the first one after more than three decades.
The past year was marked also by the visit of the delegation of the Ministry of Defence to the United States – this was the first official visit of the Minister of Defence to the USA for 25 years.
Cooperation in the field of defence is often the best part of the overall relationship achieved with individual countries, while with some countries it has been at a lower level compared to economic and political relations. Apart from the USA, we have good cooperation with the majority of NATO member countries (UK, Norway, Denmark, Turkey, Greece). With some of them (Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary) we realise joint military exercises and exchange experience in the field of defence reform and the activities of the PfP program.
Conclusion
Serbia is going to increase the number of personnel who are engaged in multinational operations under the auspices of the UN thus increasing its contribution to countering risks and threats to global security. Connecting, collaborating and having open dialogue with the countries in the region we will continue the process of reform and democratisation, not only in Serbia but also in the Western Balkan countries towards reaching the common goal of full membership of the EU.
