Serbia to appoint NATO ambassador

Defense State Secretary Igor Jovicic says that Serbia could appoint an ambassador to NATO by the end of the year. Serbia will open its mission to NATO in accordance with its membership of the Partnership for Peace program, Jovicic told B92. Serbia to appoint NATO ambassador “Based on a proposal by the Foreign Ministry, the Serbian government has endorsed a proposal for a Serbian ambassador to the NATO alliance. A ‘silent procedure’ is under way, where our proposal will be looked at by member-states, and then we could have an ambassador to NATO by the end of the year,” he said. The identity of the new ambassador will not be known until an agreement is reached. Opposition parties are calling on the government to make its position clear on NATO. “What does Serbia intend to do regarding the NATO pact, and why is the Democratic Party deceiving us?” Serb Radical Party (SRS) deputy leader Dragan Todorovic wondered. “On the one hand you have [Defense Minister Dragan] Sutanovac, on the other [President Boris] Tadic. Sutanovac openly supports joining NATO, but Tadic does not support it openly, but covertly” he said. “This is something they started working on in 2006, when we joined the Partnership. That’s not in question.What is, however, is Boris Tadic’s statement, given in a political context,: that the state has decided to be neutral, and in the same breath he is saying that an ambassador will be appointed to the Brussels mission of the NATO pact,” said Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) MP Dragan Sormaz. The ruling majority rejects suggestions that opening a NATO mission runs counter to the declaration of neutrality adopted by parliament. “The topic is not ‘yes or no to NATO,’ the topic is the capacity of the Serbian military, in terms of security, the military, the economy, politics, and foreign policy,” said G17 Plus official Vlajko Senic. “That is what I said during the meetings. The military at this moment in time is a force in society which is pulling society forward. It is opening both political and economic doors for us,” he said. “I think that we should support and welcome this, and, as far as a final destination is concerned, I believe that it will be fully-fledged NATO membership,” Senic said. Serbia joined the Partnership for Peace program in December 2006, along with Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Igor Jovocic (FoNet, archive)

Serbia to appoint NATO ambassador

“Based on a proposal by the Foreign Ministry, the Serbian government has endorsed a proposal for a Serbian ambassador to the NATO alliance. A ‘silent procedure’ is under way, where our proposal will be looked at by member-states, and then we could have an ambassador to NATO by the end of the year,” he said.

The identity of the new ambassador will not be known until an agreement is reached.

Opposition parties are calling on the government to make its position clear on NATO.

“What does Serbia intend to do regarding the NATO pact, and why is the Democratic Party deceiving us?” Serb Radical Party (SRS) deputy leader Dragan Todorović wondered.

“On the one hand you have [Defense Minister Dragan] Šutanovac, on the other [President Boris] Tadić. Šutanovac openly supports joining NATO, but Tadić does not support it openly, but covertly” he said.

“This is something they started working on in 2006, when we joined the Partnership. That’s not in question.What is, however, is Boris Tadić’s statement, given in a political context,: that the state has decided to be neutral, and in the same breath he is saying that an ambassador will be appointed to the Brussels mission of the NATO pact,” said Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) MP Dragan Šormaz.

The ruling majority rejects suggestions that opening a NATO mission runs counter to the declaration of neutrality adopted by parliament.

“The topic is not ‘yes or no to NATO,’ the topic is the capacity of the Serbian military, in terms of security, the military, the economy, politics, and foreign policy,” said G17 Plus official Vlajko Senić.

“That is what I said during the meetings. The military at this moment in time is a force in society which is pulling society forward. It is opening both political and economic doors for us,” he said.

“I think that we should support and welcome this, and, as far as a final destination is concerned, I believe that it will be fully-fledged NATO membership,” Senić said.

Serbia joined the Partnership for Peace program in December 2006, along with Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina.