http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2009&mm=11&dd=27&nav_id=63330
Politika November 27, 2009 Cooperation with U.S. important, says defense chief -"The U.S. has donated over USD 500mn since the democratic changes in Serbia through different projects and that makes it the biggest donor after the EU. Some of those donations were used by the Serbian military,” said Sutanovac who has been invited by the U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates....[C]ooperation in defense is the backbone of relations between the United States and Serbia at the moment." -"The appointment of Branislav Milinkovic as our ambassador to NATO's Partnership for Peace program represents a step toward future, more quality relations between Serbia and the U.S.” BELGRADE: Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac stated that defense and security sector cooperation with the United States "is very important". The minister told Belgrade daily Politika ahead of his trip stateside next week that this visit will be "without a doubt, politically and military very important". “Considering that the invitation for the official visit came after 25 years it is clear that both countries have great expectations. The U.S. has donated over USD 500mn since the democratic changes in Serbia through different projects and that makes it the biggest donor after the EU. Some of those donations were used by the Serbian military,” said Sutanovac who has been invited by the U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates. "The Serbian MoD has stabile relations with the U.S. military and we can say that the cooperation in defense is the backbone of relations between the United States and Serbia at the moment," Sutanovac continued. “Serbia joined the Partnership for Peace in the end of 2006 and we have signed a security agreement this year which has opened us the door toward further cooperation. The appointment of Branislav Milinkovic as our ambassador to NATO's Partnership for Peace program represents a step toward future, more quality relations between Serbia and the U.S.,” the minister said. “It is naive to believe that the partnership in defense is restricted only to cooperation between the two militaries. Considering the fact that the U.S. defense budget is as large as the defense budget of the rest of the world, it is crystal clear what the most important thing is to the U.S. foreign policy and international relations. I am absolutely convinced that all other possibilities, first of all economic ones, would open up to us much easier if we could fit our defense interests.” According to him, "Serbia has seek solutions for the problems it is facing and those solutions are available through open dialogue and partnership. If we manage to achieve friendship as well, we have reached perfection". =========================== Stop NATO http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato Blog site: http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/ To subscribe, send an e-mail to: [email protected] or [email protected] Daily digest option available. ==============================
