Serbia and Turkey Pledge to Boost Defence Cooperation

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic welcomed his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Belgrade on Monday as the two leaders announced that Belgrade and Ankara will upgrade their cooperation on defence as well as sealing a series of other agreements.

"Our experts have shown an interest in buying some equipment and weapons, and we want to collaborate in the technology field as well," Vucic told a joint press conference.

Vucic said that the increased cooperation with Turkey will benefit both countries in economically and will "raise our [Serbian] defence capacity".

Erdogan said that his country, which has been stepping up its involvement in the Balkans in recent years, will continue to invest in Serbia.

"We want to further improve relations between Turkey and Serbia when it comes to security, defence, culture," he said.

Erdogan added that Turkey will continue to play "a constructive role in the stability and well-being of the Balkans" and said that Ankara supports the region's Euro-Atlantic direction.

"Our country will continue to work to support peace in the Balkans and to leave the existing problems behind," he said.

Delegations from the two countries signed agreements on defence, social security, industry and technology cooperation.

They also signed a memorandum of understanding on joint police patrols, a framework military agreement, a protocol on cooperation in science and technology and a memorandum of understanding between their respective development agencies.

Vucic gave Erdogan a red-carpet welcome at Belgrade airport with a military salute at the start of the Turkish leader's two-day visit to Serbia.