First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia Ivica Dacic and Minister of Defence Bratislav Gasic visited today the NATO headquarters in Brussels where they had a bilateral meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and attended the Meeting of the North Atlantic Council.

The talks centered on the further promotion of cooperation between the Republic of Serbia and NATO through the Partnership for Peace programme, the current situation in KiM, cooperation in the region, including the evolving security challenges.
Minister Dacic underlined that the Republic of Serbia saw possibilities for further improvement of its cooperation with NATO within the available PfP mechanisms, while honouring its proclaimed military neutrality.
The recently adopted Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) between the Republic of Serbia and NATO will constitute a framework for the further strengthening of cooperation and a means of involvement in comprehensive reform processes.
The Serbian Foreign Minister informed his NATO interlocutors that the Republic of Serbia has defined the priority areas of its cooperation for the coming period including, namely, further development of political dialogue, participation in PfP programmes, “Integrity Building” and “Science for Peace and Security”, crisis management and civil emergency planning, as well as public diplomacy.
Minister Dacic particularly pointed out the importance of undiminished KFOR presence in Kosovo and Metohija. He emphasized that the success of the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, as well as the implementation of arrangements, were directly related to the preservation of stability and security in KiM. In this context, NATO guarantees concerning the presence of the so-called Kosovo Security Forces in northern KiM are extremely important.
Referring to new security challenges, the Minister said that Serbia supported, within the limits of its possibilities and in accordance with resources available to it, efforts to counter all forms of terrorism and radicalisation, including the Islamic State.
Minister Dacic also informed his interlocutors about Serbia’s key foreign policy priorities, primarily the importance Serbia attached to EU membership and development of regional cooperation, and he presented the activities and results achieved so far during the Serbian OSCE Chairmanship.