Meeting of the interdepartmental Working Group for monitoring the implementation of IPAP with General Vitale

01. Nov 2021.
The head of the NATO Military Liaison Office in Belgrade, Brigadier General Tommaso Vitale, held a briefing today at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the members of the interdepartmental Working Group for monitoring the implementation of the Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) between the Republic of Serbia and NATO.

The briefing was attended by the State Secretary at the MFA, Nemanja Starović, Acting Assistant Minister for Security Policy, Dijana Ivančić, as well as Acting Assistant Minister for the European Union, Nebojša Košutić.

From our side, the importance of the partnership cooperation of the Republic of Serbia with NATO within the framework of the policy of military neutrality was emphasized.

The importance of inter-ministerial cooperation, coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was pointed out, both in the process of monitoring the implementation of the current IPAP cycle (for 2019-2021) and in the upcoming process of harmonizing the newly established mechanism of Individually Tailored Partnership Program (ITPP).

On this occasion, General Vitale said that Serbia and NATO over the past 15 years, with hard work and commitment, and especially thanks to Serbia's interdepartmental approach to the implementation of documents on which the partnership mechanism is based, have managed to develop their partnership stably, and that they are improving it more and more every day, through mutual work on many projects and through mutually beneficial cooperation.

"Today I can proudly say that NATO and Serbia are close partners. With full respect for Serbia's policy of military neutrality, we have managed to strengthen our partnership through well-established mechanisms. For NATO, Serbia is a neighbor, a reliable and respected partner that plays an important role in maintaining peace and security in the region. I also want to say that the relations between Serbia and NATO are excellent, mutually beneficial and based on mutual respect", Vitale said.

He also pointed out that the recently adopted NATO 2030 agenda emphasized the importance attached to partnerships. "In that sense, Serbia is one of the most important partners for us, and NATO highly appreciates Serbia's commitment in implementing the main mechanism of our partnership", said General Vitale.

In addition, he added that NATO highly values ​​public opinion in Serbia, and that great efforts are being made to present an accurate and clear picture of NATO, its principles, democratic values ​​and long-term partnership with Serbia.

"I would also like to underline that the direct line of communication between President Vučić and Secretary General Stoltenberg, which is always open and characterized by friendship and respect, has greatly contributed to the improvement of political dialogue and mutual understanding and trust", Vitale concluded.