Change in public perception of cooperation with NATO urged

Change in public perception of cooperation with NATO urged

The expert delegation of the NATO Secretariat is visiting Belgrade to monitor the implementation of an individual action plan for the Serbia-NATO partnership, said a statement released by the Serbian National Assembly.

Dragan Sormaz, the head of the permanent delegation, briefed the NATO delegation in detail on parliamentary control and supervision of security services as well as the work of the committees on defense and interior affairs and the committee on control of security services, Tanjug reported.

"I think great progress has been made in the way in which the Parliament fought for its position regarding control of the agencies and ministries, compared with 2000 when I first became a member of parliament," Sormaz said, and added that the Serbian Assembly was "one of the few in Europe which voted on the participation in UN. and EU peace missions throughout the world," Beta agency reported.

He said that previous convocation of the Serbian National Assembly held plenary debates on all agreements with NATO, and adopted them unanimously.

Delegation member Branislav Blazic said that Serbia has a clear political goal of being a stability factor in the Balkans and a future EU member, but a militarily neutral state, the statement said.

A member of the Serbian permanent delegation, Dubravka Filipovski, said that the deputies were interested in the implementation of the IPAP and of Resolution 1325 Women, Peace and Security.

She added that, after the implementation of that resolution, "there were 7.8 percent women soldiers in Serbia, but still no women generals."

On Feb. 24, 2011, the Serbian government issued the Conclusion on starting the procedure for the creation of IPAP, and adopted this document on Dec. 20, 2014, while the North Atlantic Council adopted it on Jan. 15, 2015, which marked the practical beginning of cooperation within this mechanism of the Partnership for Peace program, Beta reported.