Serbian-Greek military cooperation to be enhanced

ATHENS - Serbian Defense Minister Nebojsa Rodic stated after a meeting with his Greek counterpart Dimitris Avramopoulos on Tuesday that a decision has been made to enhance the bilateral military cooperation.

Minister Rodic, who also met with Greek President Karolos Papoulias, expressed gratitude for the continued support and assistance of Greece to Serbia on its path to the EU membership.

Greek Defense Minister Avramopoulos voiced his support to Serbia on its EU path, noting that the accession talks started on January 21 during Greece's EU presidency.

Avramopoulos underlined that Athens is willing to play a constructive and positive role in the region of West Balkans by promoting good relations and cooperation, in order to help create an “oasis of security” for all people living in South-East Europe.

Rodic said that the two countries will seek to find modalities of cooperation in the field of defense industry as well, which will hold major importance for both countries in the time of economic crisis.

The topics addressed at the meeting also included the signing of technical agreement on the use of services of the multilateral maritime transport coordination center in Athens for the transport of Serbian armed forces participating in peace-keeping operations, and the agreement on joint engagement on Greek ships in Operation Atalanta, the European Union's counter-piracy operation off the Horn of Africa.

Photo Tanjug/S. Radovanovic (archive)