NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Partnerships, Ambassador Kevin Hamilton, during his stay in Belgrade said that "the alliance is committed to a partnership with Serbia" and described the first joint military exercise with the Serbian Armed Forces as the beginning of a new chapter in relations between the two sides.
Hamilton said in an interview with the Beta news agency that the alliance wants to have a relationship with Serbia "that goes as far as Serbia wants" and that it "does not demand anything" from Belgrade.
"We feel that we are entering a new chapter in our relationship. We, as NATO, have reached out to Serbia in an effort to deepen our relationship, and I think the response so far has been warm and reciprocal. This is the tone and direction of the relationship that we would like to continue," he said.
"I think we are in a good position. We talk constantly with Serbia about our hope and expectations for Serbia to be a force for stability and to send positive messages throughout the Western Balkans. Serbia is the largest and perhaps most influential country in this region of Europe, and that is why we rely on Serbia as a partner striving for security and stability together with NATO," Hamilton added.
Asked about the anti-NATO narrative that exists among the Serbian public, Hamilton said that the alliance cannot control what individuals in the political elite or in the media will say about NATO, but that it can only act in a way that shows that it is committed to a partnership with Serbia.
"We are certainly committed to a partnership and certainly hope for a reduction in anti-NATO rhetoric in Serbia and in this region, but ultimately we cannot control that, except to show that we really want to have a relationship with Serbia that is based on transparency, mutual respect and trust," said Hamilton, who spoke with Serbian officials in Belgrade.
Hamilton also stressed that it is important for Serbia to be "very transparent" with its neighbors when it comes to arms purchases and the modernization of its armed forces.
When asked about recent data showing that Serbia is purchasing most of its weapons from China, Hamilton said that they are "very aware" of the fact that Serbia pursues a policy of military neutrality and a multi-vector foreign policy, and that for this reason it has relationships that are different from those with NATO or its members.
"I cannot comment on the specific arms purchase, except to say that it is important for Serbia to be very transparent with its neighbors, regardless of whether they are in NATO or not, when it comes to its goals regarding arms purchases and how it is modernizing its armed forces and for what purpose. I think it is not so important just to have weapons, but transparency and dialogue between Serbia and its neighbors, which at its core and as a goal has stability, security and transparency," he said.
"Today, this week and last week, we have the NATO-Serbia exercise at the Borovac training range near Bujanovac, where NATO and Serbian forces are learning from each other in terms of peace support operations. It is an opportunity for the Serbian armed forces to improve their capabilities when it comes to deploying to peace support operations abroad, under a UN or EU mandate," he added.
Meanwhile, regarding Kosovo, Hamilton said that the alliance's concern is to ensure that the KFOR mission, in accordance with the mandate received from the United Nations, "is there to guarantee the security and well-being of all peoples, all communities of Kosovo."
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