Austrian Delegation visits Serbian MoD

A delegation of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Defence and Sports led by Brigadier General Reinhard Trischak, Head of the Division for Multilateral Cooperation, visited the Directorate for European Integration and Project Management of the Ministry of Defence. The aim of the visit was exchange of experiences between the partner countries in the EU accession process.

In his opening remarks, Major General Sladjan Djordjevic, Head of the Defence Policy Sector, pointed out the similarities in foreign policy orientation of Austria and Serbia and expressed satisfaction with the realised level of defence cooperation in the field of education, training, logistics, military health care, as well as in the area of CBRN. It was stressed that both countries share similar foreign policy goals, make responsible contributions to peacekeeping operations and are dedicated to building a safer environment in the Balkans and in Europe.

Colonel Katarina Strbac, Director of the Directorate for European Integration briefed the interlocutors on the participation of the Ministry of Defence in the negotiation process with the European Union through the work of its representatives in 20 of the 35 negotiating groups, as well as active participation in the Common Security and Defence Policy.

Also, at the meetings with the participation of representatives of other organizational units of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces, the discussion was held about the current security and political challenges faced by Europe and the role of the defence system in response to them. Special attention was paid to issues relating to the adoption of the Global Strategy of the European Union, participation in the Battle Groups concept, cooperation under the auspices of the European Defence Agency, while the Austrian side was particularly interested in the contribution of the defence system in addressing the migrant crisis.

Radenko Mutavdzic