Gasic receives Dendias

BELGRADE - Serbian Defence Minister Bratislav Gasic met with his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias in Belgrade on Tuesday to discuss bilateral defence cooperation and the situation in the Autonomous Province of Kosovo-Metohija, thanking Greece for supporting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia.

Gasic informed Dendias of a series of unilateral moves by the provisional institutions in Pristina, accompanied by an increase in the number of ethnically motivated incidents targeting the Serb population, the Serbian MoD said in a statement.

"We express enormous concern because such actions, which go unpunished by international institutions, are a threat to a continuation of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, annul all discussions and reached agreements and make the dialogue process absurd, in spite of Serbia's commitment and interest in continuing it," Gasic said.

He also thanked Greece for supporting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia and noted that non-recognition of the so-called Kosovo was a friendly stance towards Serbia as well as an indicator of Athens's consistency when it comes to respect for the sovereignty of other states.

We also owe great gratitude to Greece for its support for Serbia on the EU path, he noted.

"I will also note that the citizens of Greece can always count on help from Serbia in crisis situations, as we have demonstrated on several occasions this year, too. Full EU membership represents a foreign policy priority and a strategic commitment of Serbia and, for the MoD, that strategic commitment is being carried out, above all, through participation in an EU battle group under the auspices of the Greek army," Gasic said.

Dendias said they had talked about many issues that had to do with the security of the entire region, as well as about bilateral relations.

"Those are our relations that also carry strategic weight under an agreement we have signed, and we also discussed the need to advance our cooperation and the fact that we can benefit from experience-sharing," Dendias said.

Echoing a statement by Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Dendias said Greece's position on the so-called Kosovo remained firm.

"Only progress in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue can bring prosperity and stability to this region. Greece is a part of the KFOR mission and we are ready to make all efforts towards maintaining stability in the region. Also, I would like to remind you of Greece's position on the Western Balkans - Greece advocates long-term peace, stability and security through goodneighbourly relations and respect for international law and the principle of rule of law," Dendias said.