"Serbians should decide on joining NATO"

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says he "welcomes the steps Serbia had recently taken in order to promote its cooperation with NATO".

Izvor: Blic

Monday, 14.12.2009.

09:55

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NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says he "welcomes the steps Serbia had recently taken in order to promote its cooperation with NATO". Rasmussen told Belgrade daily Blic that it is "up to the citizens of Serbia to decide whether the country's membership in the Alliance would be useful for Serbia". "Serbians should decide on joining NATO" According to the newspaper, the NATO chief said that he does not see the Declaration of Neutrality, proclaimed by the Serbian Parliament, as an obstacle to the development of cooperation between NATO and Serbia. Many neutral countries, such as Austria and Finland for example, are considerably engaged as NATO's partners, said Rasmussen, adding that Serbia had joined Partnership for Peace Program in late 2006, but that it had "not fully used the program's potential over the past period". "I hope that Serbia will become more active, but it is up to your government to decide whether it wants to do that," said Rasmussen. As for the western military alliance's announcements it would scaled down its presence in Kosovo by 2,500 soldiers, he stated that this was a "gradual transition of KFOR units toward a conflict-deterring force", which comes as a "natural result of increased and sustainable normalization of the security situation on the ground in Kosovo".

"Serbians should decide on joining NATO"

According to the newspaper, the NATO chief said that he does not see the Declaration of Neutrality, proclaimed by the Serbian Parliament, as an obstacle to the development of cooperation between NATO and Serbia.

Many neutral countries, such as Austria and Finland for example, are considerably engaged as NATO's partners, said Rasmussen, adding that Serbia had joined Partnership for Peace Program in late 2006, but that it had "not fully used the program's potential over the past period".

"I hope that Serbia will become more active, but it is up to your government to decide whether it wants to do that," said Rasmussen.

As for the western military alliance's announcements it would scaled down its presence in Kosovo by 2,500 soldiers, he stated that this was a "gradual transition of KFOR units toward a conflict-deterring force", which comes as a "natural result of increased and sustainable normalization of the security situation on the ground in Kosovo".

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