First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic welcomed today a delegation of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Committee on the Civil Dimension of Security, which is visiting the Republic of Serbia. The delegation was led by Lord Tom Michael Jopling, Vice-President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, and Ms. Ulla Schmidt, General Rapporteur of the Committee on the Civil Dimension of Security and Vice-President of the Bundestag. Moreover, the NATO PA delegation also included prominent MPs from NATO member and partner countries.

During the meeting, national and foreign policy priorities of the Republic of Serbia, European integration, cooperation with NATO through the Partnership for Peace programme, challenges faced in the context of the migrant crisis, as well as issues of regional cooperation were discussed.

Referring to the relations with NATO, Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic emphasised that the Republic of Serbia had no ambition to become a NATO member country and it was committed to adhering to its policy of military neutrality, reiterating Serbia's commitment to developing partner cooperation with the Alliance through available mechanisms and activities within the Partnership for Peace programme.

Minister Dacic underlined the importance of not downsizing KFOR's presence in Kosovo and Metohija, as a key guarantor of security in the province. He placed special emphasis on NATO security guarantees that the so-called Kosovo armed forces would have no access to northern Kosovo without KFOR's permission. In that sense, he highlighted the extremely important role which KFOR played in the implementation of the Brussels Agreement.

The First Deputy PM and Minister of Foreign Affairs reiterated the Republic of Serbia's commitment to advancement of regional cooperation with the aim of maintaining lasting peace and stability in the region.