Defense chief on Kumanovo revision

Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac on Saturday voiced his expectation that NATO officials would support Serbia's initiative to revise the Kumanovo agreement. Belgrade has recently pushed for the abolition of the ground and air safety zones between central Serbia and the administrative line with Kosovo. Defense chief on Kumanovo revision Serbia's initiative is a very good thing, Sutanovac told reporters as he toured Serbian Army (VS) positions near Kursumlija, and added that the response "would not be quick, because a lot needs to be done on the technical level". "I think that the initiative will be supported on the political level," Sutanovac said. He added that Serbia is a member of NATO's Partnership for Peace program, that the VS has partnership relations with KFOR and that joint patrols were organized "nearly every day". "In the past year, we did not have any worrying situations in the Ground Safety Zone and there were no conflicts," said Sutanovac. President Boris Tadic and VS Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Zdravko Ponos recently launched the initiative to revise the Kumanovo agreement, which ended 78 days of NATO attacks on Serbia in 1999. That year, the agreement defined a ground zone that was off-limits to then Yugoslav Army (VS), while aircrafts were not allowed to fly closer than 25 kilometers to the administrative line. However, after ethnic Albanian extremists launched an armed rebellion in the south in 2001, Serbia's army and police re-entered the area, while the no-fly zone was reduced to five kilometers. Sutanovac in Kursumlijska Banja this Saturday (Beta)

Defense chief on Kumanovo revision

Serbia's initiative is a very good thing, Šutanovac told reporters as he toured Serbian Army (VS) positions near Kuršumlija, and added that the response "would not be quick, because a lot needs to be done on the technical level".

"I think that the initiative will be supported on the political level," Šutanovac said.

He added that Serbia is a member of NATO's Partnership for Peace program, that the VS has partnership relations with KFOR and that joint patrols were organized "nearly every day".

"In the past year, we did not have any worrying situations in the Ground Safety Zone and there were no conflicts," said Šutanovac.

President Boris Tadić and VS Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Zdravko Ponoš recently launched the initiative to revise the Kumanovo agreement, which ended 78 days of NATO attacks on Serbia in 1999.

That year, the agreement defined a ground zone that was off-limits to then Yugoslav Army (VS), while aircrafts were not allowed to fly closer than 25 kilometers to the administrative line.

However, after ethnic Albanian extremists launched an armed rebellion in the south in 2001, Serbia's army and police re-entered the area, while the no-fly zone was reduced to five kilometers.