The workshop “International military cooperation and multinational operations” has been held in Zrenjanin, organized by the Public Relations Department of the Ministry of Defence and the Embassy of the United Kingdom, which involved more than 50 representatives fromthe print and electronic media, Ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs and the Serbian Armed Forces. The workshop is an opportunity for journalists to receivefirst-hand information on current topics and processes, and to get answers to questions that preoccupy public attention.

Welcoming the participants, Navy Captain Petar Boskovic, Head of the Public Relations Department, recalled that this was the third event of the kind, noting that the purposeof the two-day workshop was topresent international military cooperation and the importance of multinational operations under the auspices of the UN and the EU in which our military personnel were engagedaround the world, as well as to clarify doubts regarding the Partnership for Peace Programme in the framework of cooperation with NATO.

In the first segment of today’s workshop participants discussed international military cooperation from the perspective of partner countries. The Head of the NATO Military Liaison Office in our country, Brigadier General Cesare Marinelli spoke about the structure of the organization, as well as about the current modalities and perspectives of the cooperation with the Republic of Serbia.

UK Defence Attaché Col Simon Fitzgibbon dedicated his presentation to specific forms of cooperation which his country fostered with the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces, in particular stressing the importance of education and training of our military personnel in the UK.

Pointing to the importance of interoperability for effective cooperation between the armed forces of partner countries, US Armed Forces Defence Attaché in Belgrade Col Taft Blackburn spoke about the cooperation so far, pointing out as a successful example “Jug”military base, the regional training centre forservicemen and servicewomen participating in peacekeeping operations.

The second panel discussion opened withthe presentation of Ambassador Branimir Filipovic, Acting Assistant Foreign Minister for Security Policy, who spoke of the Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) in the framework of the cooperation between the Republic of Serbia and NATO, and followed by a detailed presentation of the cooperation with that organization by representatives of the Ministry of Defence.

Head of the Defence Technology Directorate Maj Gen Bojan Zrnic spoke about the recently signed logistic support agreement with NATO; Head of the Strategic Planning Directorate Brigadier General Slobodan Joksimovic presented the framework for cooperation of the Republic of Serbia and the Serbian Armed Forces with NATO within the Partnership for Peace Programme, and Major DusanMrdak of the International Military Cooperation Directorate spoke about concrete forms of cooperation with NATO.