Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia Ivan Mrkic was guest at today's regular meeting of Ambassadors of NATO member countries accredited in Belgrade, which took place at the Embassy of the Slovak Republic. The Embassy of the Slovak Republic has been designated as the point of contact Embassy for cooperation between Serbia and NATO as from January 2013.

Minister Mrkic outlined the priorities of the security policy of Serbia, activities and results in Serbia's cooperation with NATO through mechanisms of the Partnership for Peace Programme, as well as the contribution of Serbia to the regional and global security cooperation by participating in UN- and EU-led international peacekeeping missions.

The Minister underlined that Serbia would not join NATO but would, instead, like to be reliable and responsible partner. In addition, he assessed that there was room for further improvement of the cooperation within the available mechanisms of the Partnership for Peace Programme. He especially pointed out the security aspect of the issue of Kosovo and Metohija and stressed the need for an unreduced presence of the KFOR international forces in the province, as the guarantor of the security of Serbian and other non-Albanian population and the implementation of the Brussels Agreement.

The Ambassadors of NATO member countries expressed their satisfaction at the level and intensity of cooperation between Serbia and NATO within the Partnership for Peace framework. They positively assessed the results that had been achieved in this context in the past year.

The discussions laid particular emphasis on the significance of yesterday's decision of the EU Foreign Ministers to launch accession talks with Serbia in January next year, which was commonly seen as a historic step in the European integration process.