| Šutanovac: No invitation to join NATO |
| 1 October 2009 | 11:00
| Source:
FoNet, Vreme |
BELGRADE --
Defense Minister Dragan Šutanovac says that there is no real question over whether Serbia should join NATO or not because it has not been invited to do so.
 | Dragan Šutanovac (FoNet, archive)
|
“Serbia is still not fully participating in the Partnership for Peace. I think that within that partnership, there are a large number of possibilities and high-quality activities that Serbia has yet to exploit,” Šutanovac told weekly Vreme.
He said that parliament had adopted a decision on military neutrality, even though that decision had not been adopted on the basis of strategic documents or visions of cooperation in the future.
“Serbia will be an island in NATO soon, because all the surrounding countries will be in NATO or have NATO forces on their territory. What kind of relations should we have with traditionally friendly countries like Greece, Romania, Slovakia and Spain, from whom we are expecting and have strong support?” the minister wondered.
He said that it was unlikely that there would be a debate on this any time soon, but that the time would come when an important question would be asked of Serbia, adding that a lot of courage would be necessary to explain to the public what the advantages of security integration were.
Šutanovac said that the draft national security strategy and defense strategy would enter parliamentary procedure on October 6.
Asked if civil control truly existed over the Military Security Agency (VBA) and the Military Intelligence Agency (VOA), Šutanovac said that control was on a much lower level currently than it was in modern democratic societies.
“I am convinced that the adoption of the law, with control of the leadership, parliamentary control and public control, which already exists, will considerably facilitate these agencies' work and yield better results,” the minister said.
“As a minister, I know what they are doing, but I do not have full access to it, because I would have to devote all my time in order for this to happen,” Šutanovac said.
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