The third bilateral defence consultations between the Republic of Serbia and the United Kingdom were held in London. During the visit, the delegation of the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, led by Assistant Minister for Defence Policy Miroslav Jovanovic, met with the Minister for International Security Strategy, Andrew Morrison. At the meeting, the participants expressed their satisfaction with the achieved level of defence cooperation and concluded that there was considerable room for further improvement. They also affirmed readiness of the United Kingdom to support Serbia in its negotiations to join the EU.
At the bilateral talks, the delegation of the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the United Kingdom was led by the Director for Security Policy of the Ministry of Defence Steve McCarthy. At the meeting, they also exchanged views on the political and security situation in the region, foreign policy priorities, cooperation with the European Defence Agency, and discussed aspects of cooperation with NATO through the Partnership for Peace Programme and bilateral military cooperation of the Republic of Serbia and the United Kingdom. They emphasized that regular bilateral defence consultations demonstrate a high level of cooperation and understanding between the two defence systems and the British side expressed their willingness to continue to support and assist further reform of the defence system of the Republic of Serbia, provide advisory and expert assistance during opening the chapter in the Common Security and Defence Policy (Chapter 31), and the implementation of the Partnership Goals within the Partnership for Peace Programme. Also, they particularly expressed their interest in the support by the British side in further development of the capabilities of the Serbian Armed Forces and coordination of activities in the development of the Operational Capabilities Concept. |