(srpskohrvatski / english)

- Serbia: Opposition protests held over NATO conference in Belgrade 

- NATO conference begins in Belgrade

- Security tightened in Belgrade over NATO conference 

- Libya aggression discussed at NATO Conference in Belgrade 

- Montenegro receives support to become the 29th NATO alliance member

- Serbians not too keen on joining NATO 

- Minister: Conference has military significance

- Serbian Patriarch condemns NATO

- Serbia taking part to joint Bulgarian-US exercises

- NATO Secretary General visits Montenegro and calls for Euro-Atlantic integration of the Western Balkans

- Western Balkans: moving closer to Euro-Atlantic integration

Per altre informazioni sul vertice NATO svoltosi a Belgrado a metà giugno e sulla opposizione alla NATO in Serbia:
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/7091
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/7081
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/7042
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/6647
http://www.slobodanjovanovic.org/2010/01/11/tekst-proglasa-o-referendumu-o-nato/?lang=lat
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/6620

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http://www.adnkronos.com/IGN/Aki/English/Politics/Serbia-Opposition-protests-held-over-NATO-conference-in-Belgrade_312126044829.html

ADN Kronos International - June 13, 2011

Serbia: Opposition protests held over NATO conference in Belgrade 

Belgrade: Several opposition parties protested on Monday against a NATO conference on a “strategic military partnership”, hosted by the Serbian ministry of defence, which opens in Belgrade on Tuesday.
About one hundred officials and members of parliament from the... Serbian Radical Party (SRS) protested in front of the Serbian state presidency building, burning NATO flags and calling pro-European President Boris Tadic a “traitor”.
Sunday evening several hundreds attended a protest rally organised by the opposition Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS), headed by former prime minister Vojislav Kostunica.
NATO bombed Serbia for 78 days in 1999 to push Serbian forces out of breakaway Kosovo province...
As a result, Kosovo declared independence in February 2008.
Apart from huge material damages, over 2,000 people were killed in the bombing and animosities are still high against western military alliance. Serbia is striving for membership in the European Union, but has taken a neutral stand towards any military bloc and two thirds of the population oppose membership in NATO.
SRS protesters said that holding a NATO conference in Belgrade was like a “criminal returning to the scene of crime”. They accused Tadic of “betraying state and national interests” and of having tacitly approved Kosovo independence.
The conference will be attended by chiefs of general staff of NATO countries and NATO's Partnership for Peace, of which Serbia is a member. A total of sixty countries, including Serbia’s ally Russia, will attend Belgrade meeting.
...

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http://en.trend.az/news/nato/1890945.html

Trend News Agency - June 13, 2011

NATO conference begins in Belgrade

NATO opened its annual Strategic Military Partner Conference on Monday in the Serbian capital of Belgrade. Military representatives of about 70 countries will participate in three days of workshops and discussions, aimed at sharing perspectives on strategic issues, Xinhua reported.
The agenda of the conference's theme "Post Lisbon: Delivering Transformation" is expected to follow three major topics: Innovative Approaches to Effective Capability Development, Assured Access to the Global Commons, and finally Training, Partnerships and Outreach.
According to a NATO press release, this annual conference is a "core event"
within its military engagement campaign. As a strategic level conference it will be used to inform members and partners of NATO's transformational efforts and provide a forum for the discussion these ideas from national military points of view.
...

Serbia's main opposition political parties held a rally on Monday to protest the conference. Members of the...Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) and the Serbian Radical Party (SRS), demanding that Serbia remain militarily neutral, hung banners "No to NATO" and "Never in NATO" from the bridges over the River Sava, linking the old town with the towers of New Belgrade.
As Serbia moves toward EU integration, membership in NATO remains an emotional and politically divisive issue.
In 1999, NATO forces bombed Serbia, forcing its army to leave its southern
province of Kosovo. In the aftermath, Kosovo unilaterally declared independence and has been recognized by most members of NATO. As many as 3,500 people were killed and 12,500 wounded; with damage to infrastructure estimated between 30 million and 100 million U.S. dollars.

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http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/06/14/51675975.html

Voice of Russia - June 14, 2011

Security tightened in Belgrade over NATO conference 

Security has been tightened in Belgrade in view of a NATO conference on strategic military partnership that’s due to get under way in the Serbian capital today.
Hundreds of Serbs held a rally outside President Boris Tadic’s office yesterday night. The posters they held read “Never to NATO”.
They accused the Serbian leader of high treason and burnt down the NATO flag. The protesters see the arrival in Serbia of “criminals that bombed Serbia in 1999” and tore away Kosovo as inadmissible.

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http://www.adnkronos.com/IGN/Aki/English/Politics/Libya-Prolonged-Nato-operation-may-run-into-financial-problems_312130197082.html

ADN Kronos International - June 14, 2011

Libya: Prolonged Nato operation 'may run into financial problems' 

Belgrade: A high-ranking Nato official said on Tuesday said he believed in the success of the military coalition's operation in Libya, but cautioned that a drawn out mission could cause the alliance to run into financial difficulty.
“At this point the allied forces have enough means and I’m convinced that the operation in Libya will be successful,” General Stephane Abrial, Nato's Supreme Allied Commander for Transformation, told a Nato conference in Belgrade.
“But if the operation is prolonged, of course the question of finances will become an issue,” the French general said.
He echoed a concern expressed buy the US Secretary of defence Robert Gates last week that only eight Nato's 28 members were actively taking part in the aerial operations against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Abrial opened the first Nato conference in Belgrade, attended by chiefs of general staff of member countries and participants in the Partnership for Peace program. The Partnership for Peace is a programme of practical bilateral cooperation between individual partner countries and Nato. A total of 56 countries, including Russia, are attending.
The meeting is held under tight security measures, amid opposition protests against Nato - which bombed Serbia for 78 days in 1999 - over what was called a “humanitarian catastrophe” and mass exodus of Albanians from breakaway Kosovo province, which declared independence in 2008.
Two thirds of Serbian citizens oppose the country’s membership in Nato...

But defence minister Dragan Sutanovac told the meeting Serbia was actively cooperating with Nato through the Partnership for Peace program and was ready to take part in peace-keeping missions under the umbrella of the United Nations.
“Fully aware of the emotions provoked by Nato in Serbia, we have assumed the responsibility to organize this meeting because we deeply believe that it is in the general interest and good for the future,” Sutanovac said.

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http://www.balkans.com/open-news.php?uniquenumber=108494

Balkans Business News - June 14, 2011

Montenegro receives support to become the 29th NATO alliance member

"Montenegro is an important partner to NATO and you have our full support to become the 29th Alliance member," the NATO Parliamentary Assembly president Karl Lamers told Montenegro's Prime Minister Igor Lukšić at their meeting on 12 June in Budva, Montenegro. 
Mr Lamers said he has deep appreciation for PM Lukšić’s policy and commended Montenegro’s commitment to EU and NATO integration. He welcomed Montenegro’s involvement in Afghanistan.. 
Mr Lamers also made a favourable assessment of Montenegro’s EU accession process, at the same time underlining that “Germany gives full support to both the EU and NATO integration of Montenegro.” 
PM Lukšić stressed that Montenegro will continue to work diligently on venerating the European and Euro-Atlantic principles not only for the sake of joining the organisations but primarily to ensure better quality of life for its citizens.

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http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/06/14/51703227.html

Voice of Russia - June 14, 2011

Serbians not too keen on joining NATO 

Alexander Vatutin 

An overwhelming majority of the Serbians have a negative opinion of the plans of their leadership to start the process of joining NATO. This was obviously demonstrated on Monday, ahead of the NATO conference on strategic military partnership in Belgrade. Hundreds of people went into the streets to protest against President Boris Tadic’s pro-NATO policy.
For ordinary Serbians NATO is first of all associated with devastating bombings of Belgrade in 1999. According to public opinion polls, 75% of Serbian citizens do not accept the policy of joining the alliance. 
Many people believe that holding a NATO conference so soon after the extradition of General Ratko Mladic to the Hague is an act of national humiliation. Instead of suing NATO in the International Court for numerous victims and the collapse of Yugoslavia, the authorities are developing a close military cooperation with the bloc. 
Moreover, the Serbian Defence Ministry has declared that “holding the conference will raise the clout of the country on the international arena”. This is not a very politically correct explanation for their own people, believes the head of the Centre for Studying the Current Balkan Crisis Yelena Guskova:
“People have not forgotten the bombings, deprivations, grief and isolation of the country. This is why they march in the streets protesting against NATO. The country’s leadership is sure that holding the conference in Belgrade is a sign of a good attitude to Serbia. But if Serbia, which was bombed in the past, joins NATO, this will be the justification of the NATO policy in that period and Serbia will pass its own indictment.”
Serbians who live in Kosovo and Metohija are also utterly disappointed. Serbia lost its lands exactly because of the NATO policy. Serbian politician Marko Jaksic calls the decision of the Serbian authorities to host the NATO conference “masochistic”:
“NATO bombed Yugoslavia for 79 days. Over 800 children were killed, the number of cancer patients has increased by six times because the alliance used shells with depleted uranium, and the country suffered damage of more than $200 billion. In the end, it was due to NATO that Serbia lost Kosovo which makes up 15% of its territory. This is how the alliance contributed to the good of our country”.
However, it would be wrong to say that all Serbians are against integration with Europe. They support cooperation with the EU and joining it in the future, but they do not want to join NATO. This is what Alexander Karasiov, the head of a department of the Institute of Slavonic Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences, says:
“There is a consensus about joining the EU. Most Serbians are in favour of this, joining the EU is important for both intellectuals and businessmen. As for relations with NATO, the problem is much more complicated. We can see a definite rift here. The majority of those who want the country to join the EU are against Serbia joining NATO”.

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http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2011&mm=06&dd=14&nav_id=74904&version=print

B92/Tanjug News Agency - June 14, 2011

Minister: Conference has military significance

BELGRADE: Defense Minister Dragan Šutanovac says the Strategic Military Partner Conference in Belgrade has considerable military, but not political significance.
...

Šutanovac stressed that, while making a decision to host the gathering, the Serbian Defense Ministry was aware of the emotions that NATO provokes in Serbia. 
....

"The conference has an extremely important military, not political character," Šutanovac stressed, adding that the goal of the meeting is to show that Serbia is a dependable partner that can be relied on not only by NATO, but also by other countries attending the conference. 
Šutanovac said that Serbia will continue strengthening its defense forces and raising international reputation through its presence in peacekeeping missions. 

He underscored that two recently signed agreements with the EU will establish the legal framework for Serbia's participation in the EU peacekeeping operations. 
"In this way, we will confirm our commitment to Serbia's European perspective and the universal system of values fostered in the modern world," he said. 
The aim of the Strategic Military Partner Conference is to exchange experience and opinions on major strategic issues of common interest. The conference is attended by representatives of member states of NATO, the Partnership for Peace, Mediterranean Dialogue and Istanbul Cooperation Initiative, as well as high EU and NATO officials. 
The gathering, bringing together NATO and its partner countries, was opened today by NATO Commander of Allied Command Transformation Stephane Abrial. 
Dragan Šutanovac and Miloje Miletić, chief of the VS general staff, were present. 
Representatives of some 60 countries are taking part in the event that started at the Hyatt Hotel in Belgrade. 
Ahead of the official start of the conference, participants attended a reception at the Guard House in Topčider. 
The conference will last through June 15. 
It is organized by NATO's Allied Command Transformation, and gathered members of this western military alliance, its Partnership for Peace program, the Mediterranean Dialogue and the Istanbul Initiative.

Security culture

Serbia is recognized as a partner country that shares a common security culture of the contemporary world Stephane Abrial has been quoted as saying ahead of the conference. 
Abrial met with Dragan Šutanovac in Belgrade on Monday. 
Abrial praised the Serbian Defense Ministry and the army (VS) for a successful organization and extraordinary cooperation in the preparation of the Strategic Military Partner Conference, co-organized with the Allied Command Transformation, the Defense Ministry said in a website release. 
Šutanovac informed his guest about the results achieved in the defense system reforms that have been key conditions to put Serbia among countries with the capacity to contribute to international peace and security. 
Trust is also being earned by such conferences, and credibility gained by readiness to reform a country's defense system in a way that it can respond to national, regional and global security challenges, Šutanovac said.

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http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/06/15/51720388.html

Voice of Russia - June 15, 2011

Serbian Patriarch condemns NATO

The head of the Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch Irenaeus condemned the holding of a NATO conference in Belgrade. According to him, the wounds inflicted by the alliance on the Serbian people have not yet healed.
In March 1999, NATO countries, led by the United States, began a bombing campaign in Yugoslavia, mainly in Serbia and Montenegro.
Due to the fact that aircraft used shells with depleted uranium cores the local residents who were in the areas of the bombing have seen a dramatic increase in mortality rates and an increased number of congenital diseases in children.
The NATO operation, undertaken without UN sanctions, continued for about three months. Its purpose was to protect Kosovar Albanians from the Serbian authorities, who started a military operation against the militant Albanian terrorist organization "The Kosovo Liberation Army."

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http://paper.standartnews.com/en/article.php?d=2011-06-16&article=36543

Standart News - June 16, 2011

US Marines Come to Bulgaria from Afghanistan

Georgi Manginov

Serbian troops that came to Bulgaria to take part in the joint US-Bulgarian military exercise were given brand new Kalashnikov automatic rifles. 
The gala inauguration ceremony of the Black Sea Rotation Force 2011 was held in the Novo Selo base. For the first time a unit of the Serbian army will partake in such a large-scale military training in Bulgarian territory. 
A platoon of the Bulgarian western neighbor, however, arrived without being armed. Bulgarian, Serbian and American marines lined up at one of the training grounds of Novo Selo. The flag hoisting ceremony was headed by current commander Lieutenant Colonel Nelson Cardella of the US Marines. “Our troops will be trained to improve the interoperability of our staffs,” he said. 
The top USMC commanding officer underscored that most of the US SEALS have arrived in Novo Selo straight from Afghanistan.      
“This is a very good range with excellent conditions for training and monoeuvring,” the US officer said.
The Standart daily learnt that US Marines arrived by Hercules-C-130 personnel carrier, which in the next two weeks will be at the disposal of paratroopers from the Bulgarian Army.
In the last two years Serbia sent observers to the joint Bulgarian-US exercise. This year it will participate with proper subdivisions and it is expected that next year the Black Sea Rotation Force exercise will take place in Serbia. 
It is scheduled 2012 Bulgarian-US trainings to include subdivisions from some other Balkan countries.
During Black Sea Rotation Force 2011 several basic actions will be drilled, staff officers said. 

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http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/news_75568.htm

North Atlantic Treaty Organization - June 29, 2011 

NATO Secretary General visits Montenegro and calls for Euro-Atlantic integration of the Western Balkans

The NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen visited Budva, Montenegro on Wednesday, 29th June 2011. During his visit, the Secretary General met with President Filip Vujanovic and with Prime Minister Igor Luksic. 
They discussed progress made in the first year of Montenegro’s  Membership Action Plan (MAP), the situation in the Western Balkans as well as NATO-led operations in Afghanistan and Libya. In a joint press conference with the Prime Minister, Mr. Rasmussen thanked Montenegro for substantial contributions to the Alliance’s operation in Afghanistan.
...

The Secretary General  also commended the participation of Montenegro in the Adriatic Charter initiative aimed at providing trainers to Afghanistan.
...

Mr. Rasmussen stressed that the joint Adriatic Charter initiative "is an excellent example of how we can produce security in the future”.
...

Mr. Rasmussen also commended Montenegro for the constructive role it has played in promoting security and stability in the region.
"It is my vision to see all countries in the Western Balkans improve their relationship with NATO and the EU in the future", he emphasised.
The Secretary General praised the Government of Montenegro for "its efforts to reform the Montenegrin society."
“Your first year in the MAP process has been a great success. Montenegro has achieved a lot of progress in its reform process".
The Secretary General underlined that nevertheless "there is still some work to do when it comes to fight against organised crime and corruption" and concluded: "I welcome the strong commitment of the Government to continue the reform work".
In his address to the Adriatic Charter Conference, the Secretary General urged the leaders of the region to focus on the common ground and the common good.
“My message to all the political leaders, of all the countries in this region, is clear.  You are responsible for breaking with the past, and focusing on the future.  For taking your countries forward.  And into Europe and the Euro-Atlantic community of nations”, he said.

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http://www.nato.int/cps/en/SID-E8B5B9BE-D6311B7F/natolive/news_76329.htm

North Atlantic Treaty Organization - July 11, 2011

Western Balkans: moving closer to Euro-Atlantic integration

For nearly two decades, NATO [has been active] in the Western Balkans. In that time, the region’s engagement with NATO has been shifting increasingly from peacekeeping and crisis management towards Euro-Atlantic integration. 
“We want to see the whole of this region sharing the stability and the well-being of the Euro-Atlantic community of nations,” said NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen during a speech in Montenegro on 29 June... 
Within a few years of having deployed its first peacekeeping mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina in December 1995, NATO mobilized to intervene in the Kosovo crisis...and deployed the NATO-led Kosovo Force in 1999. In 2001, NATO along with the European Union came to the assistance of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia¹ [sic], facilitating the end of an internal conflict... 
While the mission in Kosovo is ongoing, the focus of relations with partners in the region has shifted towards developing cooperation to promote reform and Euro-Atlantic integration. NATO’s Partnership for Peace programme has had a major impact, engaging partner countries in political dialogue and helping them with reform challenges, especially in the defence sector.
The Secretary General stressed that NATO would continue supporting the entire region on the way to Euro-Atlantic integration and that the Alliance’s door is open...

Members and partners

An important indicator of the progress that has already been made in the region is that some former partners have joined the Alliance, namely Albania (2009), Croatia (2009) and Slovenia (2004). 
Three partners in the Western Balkans are membership aspirants. The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia¹, will be invited to start accession talks when a solution to the issue over the country’s name has been reached.  
Montenegro joined the MAP in 2009 and Bosnia and Herzegovina was invited to MAP in 2010, pending the resolution of a key issue concerning immovable defence property.
While Serbia does not currently aspire to join NATO, it is seeking to deepen cooperation with the Alliance and further its European Union integration goals. 

No longer “security consumers”

Another important measure of progress in the Western Balkans is the fact that partners that were previously “security consumers” are now themselves contributing to international security by supporting peace-support operations abroad. 
The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia¹ has been contributing to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan since 2002, Bosnia and Herzegovina since 2009, and Montenegro since 2010.

1. Turkey recognizes the Republic of Macedonia with its constitutional name.