“Upcoming conference military, not NATO summit”

Defense Ministry State Secretary Tanja Miscevic has said that the upcoming military conference is not a “NATO summit”. She added that Russia and other countries would take part in it as well. “Upcoming conference military, not NATO summit” Representatives of all countries of the region will attend the conference, which is, according to her, a sign of good regional cooperation and partnership. “Belarus’s chief of the general staff and Russian Federation deputy chief of the general staff will, among others, participate in the conference,” she told daily Danas. “Out of 69 invited countries, 55 responded. North African states will not come due to unrest in the region, and remote countries such as India and Argentina with whom we don’t have increased cooperation. There will be a total of 18 chiefs of the general staff and dozen deputy chiefs, while others will be general staffs’ envoys,” Miscevic was quoted as saying. She pointed out that the holding of the biggest military meeting would be a big challenge for the Serbian security services and the Defense Ministry. When asked to comment on opposition’s allegations that the state is trying to “hide” the conference, the Defense Ministry state secretary said that the information had been public since the moment the conference had been planned. “It is important to be precise. This is not a NATO summit. When someone says NATO summit it speaks of their ignorance. The NATO summit is the organization’s highest political meeting which gathers NATO member states and it is organized in a member state. Serbia cannot be an organizer of a NATO summit because it is not a member of the Alliance,” Miscevic stressed. She repeated that the conference would focus on finding solutions for global challenges and added that Serbia needed to be a part of the global security system, a stable partner and participant in EU and UN missions and to take part in discussions on all security issues. “NATO will not invite Serbia to join the Alliance at the upcoming strategic partnership conference nor will Serbia request it,” she told daily Blic. “Not a single strategic document that would mean that Serbia is abandoning its military neutral position will be signed,” Miscevic concluded. Tanja Miscevic (Beta)

“Upcoming conference military, not NATO summit”

Representatives of all countries of the region will attend the conference, which is, according to her, a sign of good regional cooperation and partnership.

“Belarus’s chief of the general staff and Russian Federation deputy chief of the general staff will, among others, participate in the conference,” she told daily Danas.

“Out of 69 invited countries, 55 responded. North African states will not come due to unrest in the region, and remote countries such as India and Argentina with whom we don’t have increased cooperation. There will be a total of 18 chiefs of the general staff and dozen deputy chiefs, while others will be general staffs’ envoys,” Miščević was quoted as saying.

She pointed out that the holding of the biggest military meeting would be a big challenge for the Serbian security services and the Defense Ministry.

When asked to comment on opposition’s allegations that the state is trying to “hide” the conference, the Defense Ministry state secretary said that the information had been public since the moment the conference had been planned.

“It is important to be precise. This is not a NATO summit. When someone says NATO summit it speaks of their ignorance. The NATO summit is the organization’s highest political meeting which gathers NATO member states and it is organized in a member state. Serbia cannot be an organizer of a NATO summit because it is not a member of the Alliance,” Miščević stressed.

She repeated that the conference would focus on finding solutions for global challenges and added that Serbia needed to be a part of the global security system, a stable partner and participant in EU and UN missions and to take part in discussions on all security issues.

“NATO will not invite Serbia to join the Alliance at the upcoming strategic partnership conference nor will Serbia request it,” she told daily Blic.

“Not a single strategic document that would mean that Serbia is abandoning its military neutral position will be signed,” Miščević concluded.