Gasic: Serbia supports peaceful resolution of conflicts

BELGRADE - Serbian Defense Minister Bratislav Gasic said in a meeting with Israeli Ambassador to Belgrade Yossef Levy on Tuesday that Serbia's position on the situation in Israel and in Ukraine is clear, stressing that the country supports peaceful resolution of conflicts, the Ministry of Defense stated in a release.

"Serbia's position on the situation in Israel, as well as in Ukraine, is clear. Our country respects territorial integrity of all UN member states and supports peaceful resolution of conflicts," Minister Gasic said.

Gasic and Levy discussed the current situation in the Gaza Strip, Israel and the Middle East, and the Israeli ambassador stressed that his country's military operation is aimed to destroy rocket launchers and tunnels in Gaza and to prevent rocket attacks on Israel.

Speaking about the Serbian-Israeli ties, the two officials pointed to the strong potential for advancement of military-to-military, scientific and technical cooperation, as well as cooperation in the areas of military medicine and military education.

Gasic noted that the defense cooperation activities planned for 2014 and 2015 will be agreed upon in the coming period, the release states.

The minister informed the ambassador about the damage caused by the catastrophic floods in May and expressed his gratitude to Israel for the humanitarian aid provided to Serbia.

The Israeli ambassador underlined the importance of continuing the cooperation between the Serbian Defense Ministry's Military Archive and the Yad Vashem Institute for Holocaust Research in Israel.

Photo Tanjug, S. Radovanovic