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The Minister of Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue, Gordana Comic, said on Sunday that “cooperation between Serbia and NATO should be further developed and encouraged.”
“Serbia is very willing to cooperate through the ‘Partnership for Peace’ program,” Comic said at the international conference “NATO Week in Belgrade: This is us”, organized by the Center for Euro-Atlantic Studies (CEAS) in Belgrade .
In the first online panel, titled “To continue or not to continue,” Comic stated that it should be understood that Serbia has certain reservations when it comes to being a member of NATO.
“On the other hand, I think there is a lot of room for future cooperation,” Comic noted.
He added that he assumes that the United States will not change anything in its policy towards Serbia.
“I don’t expect the attitude of the Serbs to change significantly, because every time they see NATO, they immediately recognize it as part of the United States,” Comic said.
He stated that he hopes that in the future NATO’s role will intensify and expand in the Western Balkan region, but also change, noting that the pandemic has changed us.
Comic also assessed that NATO should focus on the role of women in peacekeeping operations, especially in this post-covid situation.
“NATO should focus more on the fact that, on the one hand, the medal is security, but on the other hand, those same medals are human rights,” emphasizing that “it must go hand in hand.”
Milic: Currently, 63% of citizens support stronger cooperation with the United States
Jelena Milić, Director of CEAS, stated that according to the results of this year’s public opinion poll entitled “This is us” conducted by CEAS, “at this time, 63% of Serbian citizens support stronger cooperation with the United States in the fields of economy, security and defense, without it who is in the White House. “
“Add to that 13 percent of the undecided, who can probably be convinced by a proactive argumentation approach. That’s then 80 percent of the citizens of Serbia,” Milic said.
He added that “today, 53% of Serbian citizens believe that US policy towards Serbia is improving.”
A non-resident senior associate at the US Atlantic Council, Damir Marušić, assessed that during the Trump administration, “the US approached Serbia in a different way.”
“It is extremely important that the United States participates in all processes in the Western Balkans and that the Biden administration continues to push the processes further, to design a coherent policy that applies in a broader sense to all the Balkans and Serbia in particular.” Marusic said.
Former State Department associate predicts excellent cooperation between Serbia and the Biden administration
Retired State Department official Bertram Brown said “Biden supports Euro-Atlantic integration, knows this region” and that his arrival as US president will lead to much greater cooperation with Europe.
“When it comes to Serbia, I think it will have excellent cooperation with the Biden administration if that kind of positive attitude, reasonable approach continues. I think Serbia has gained points in America for the fact that it is reasonable, stable, which it acts as a stabilizing factor in the Balkans, especially in relation to Bosnia, “said Brown.
He stated that Serbia is rendering a great service to Bosnia by maintaining a stable relationship with the Republika Srpska.
“President Vučić is cooperating rationally with Kosovo and Albania. In that regard, the Vučić administration will certainly have good relations with the Biden administration,” Brown noted.
He assessed that the United States is key when it comes to Kosovo, it can facilitate dialogue and ensure the cooperation of the Kosovo government.
“If we really want to reach an agreement, the United States is crucial and can really help,” Brown said.
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