BELGRADE, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Although Serbia remains militarily neutral, it is willing to cooperate with NATO, especially when it comes to strengthening stability in the Western Balkans, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said here on Wednesday.
Vucic made this statement during a meeting with Paolo Alli, visiting president of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.
Vucic and Alli said that "participation of a delegation of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia at the annual sessions of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, as an associate member, contributes to mutual understanding and trust."
The delegation of Serbia's National Assembly has been participating in the activities of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly as an associate delegation since 2007. In 2015, the individual partnership action plan between the Republic of Serbia and NATO was approved, marking the beginning of their cooperation through partnership for peace.
"President Vucic said that Serbia remains militarily neutral, but this position is not an obstacle for the development of partnership cooperation with NATO within the partnership for peace mechanisms in the interests of strengthening stability, especially in the Western Balkans," a government press release read.
Vucic also thanked Kosovo Force (KFOR), the NATO-led international peacekeeping force, "for its role as a guarantor of security in Kosovo and Metohija," referring to the southern province that unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008,which Serbia refuses to recognize.
During the meeting, Alli supported Serbia's willingness to invest efforts into preserving the stability and expanding cooperation in the region, and expressed satisfaction that "in the past the dialogue between Serbia and NATO has intensified at the highest level, while respecting the positions of the Serbian military neutrality."
