U.S. ambassador: Serbia is under no obligation to join NATO

U.S. ambassador: Serbia is under no obligation to join NATO

When relations between Serbia and NATO are discussed, one must first "understand what is being discussed" and do so "by separating fact from fiction and controversy," Scott said at an international conference on NATO in Belgrade.

The first fact to be considered, according to Scott, is that Serbia has declared military neutrality and made it clear that NATO membership is not its goal.

"NATO respects Serbia's position and no one is calling that into question, the fact that Serbia is a partner does not mean there is an obligation for Serbia to participate in operations," said the ambassador, adding that "Serbia decides which activities it wants to carry out."

Noting that NATO membership entails submitting a request to join, Scott stressed that "no country has ever been pressured into joining this alliance."

As he said, Serbia is a sovereign country and there is nothing in Serbia's arrangements with NATO, such as IPAP or Partnership for Peace, based on which it could be concluded it is under obligation to join.

Noting that Serbia's partnership with NATO is "beneficial to Serbia," Scott estimated that thanks to this the country is "safer, has increased security and better possibilities of cooperation with its neighbors."

2016 marks ten years since Serbia became a member of Partnership for Peace, the diplomat remarked, and said that based on this program, "Serbia today has more than 100 engagements a year."

NATO week

The two-day conference that began in Belgrade on Monday is part of the 4th Belgrade NATO Week, organized by the Center for Euro-Atlantic Studies (CEAS) NGO.

Tanjug is reporting that the topics include "the nature of future NATO-EU cooperation, key decisions of the Warsaw NATO Summit and their implications for the Western Balkans, the Transatlantic Partners’ relations with Russia and implementation of the Individual Partnership Action Plan between Serbia and NATO, adopted two years ago."

CEAS Director Jelena Milic has been quoted as saying that it will be "the largest conference on NATO held in Serbia to date," with key speakers including Robert Pszczel, Acting Director of the NATO Information Office in Moscow, Lt-Gen Benjamin Hodges, commander of the U.S. army in Europe, and Walter Slocombe, director of Atlantic Council.