Boosting military ties significant for regional security

BELGRADE - The chiefs of staff of the armed forces of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, generals Ljubisa Dikovic and Anto Jelec, on Wednesday expressed their readiness for further improvement of the cooperation between the two countries' armed forces and said that it is in the interest of regional stability.

Speaking to reporters, Dikovic said that he will discuss with Jelec, who is on a two-day visit to Belgrade, the strengthening of military cooperation in mutual interest, but said that the cooperation has in the past also been good and developed.

Dikovic said that the Serbian Armed Forces are interested in training for their troops at the Bosnia and Herzegovina Mine Action Centre, and that they can offer to the Bosnian side the capacities of the CBRN centre in Krusevac, the Military Academy, the Military Medical Academy, as well as Base South, for training for international peacekeeping missions.

Jelec, who is Chief of Joint Staff of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Armed Forces, noted that good cooperation has been maintained with the Serbian Armed Forces in the areas of training, joint exercises and experience-sharing.

Assistance to civilians in natural disasters such as the floods that hit the region last May has demonstrated how armed forces can act in those situations, too, he said.

We have no unsolved issues, but we do have possibilities to boost the cooperation, said Jelec, who is on his first official visit to Belgrade.

Before the meeting of the two generals, the senior military delegation from Bosnia and Herzegovina was welcomed at the Serbian Armed Forces General Headquarters in Banjica.

Photo Ministry of Defence/Jovo Mamula