Serbia hosts the first military exercise with NATO | NATO news

The two-week exercise comes less than 30 years after NATO bombed Belgrade during the Kosovo war.

Serbia and NATO have established their first military alliance, a landmark alliance between the Balkan country and the alliance that bombed its capital less than 30 years ago.

The two-week exercise, which ran from Tuesday to May 23, involves about 600 soldiers from Serbia, Italy, Romania and Turkey. Military planners and people from France, Germany, Italy, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States are also involved.

Pictures footage released on Tuesday showed Serbian and NATO troops standing side by side at a military training facility near Bujanovac in southern Serbia, alongside armored vehicles from both sides.

“The purpose of this agreement is to protect peace and stability in the region,” said the Ministry of Defense of Serbia.

“The preparation of the operation has been a very important part of the operation. Both NATO and the Serbian Armed Forces have a long history of preparing for major international events, so the teams were able to cooperate and provide without limitations, sharing ideas and experiences,” the Commander of the Royal Navy, Ian Kewley, said in a press release.

This strategic action falls under NATO’s Partnership for Peace program, which Serbia has been a part of for almost 20 years. The country regularly participates in military exercises with NATO members, although this is the first time that this alliance has taken place.

A sensitive issue

NATO remains a sensitive issue in Serbia following the 1999 air campaign against Yugoslavia during the Kosovo war.

A NATO-led military force has been stationed in Kosovo since the end of the 1999 war, and Serbia has not recognized its former province’s independence.

Serbia is one of the few Balkan countries not in the alliance, maintaining a policy of neutrality while maintaining close ties with NATO and Russia.

Serbia has strengthened its military capabilities over the past 10 years, buying weapons from NATO member states in addition to purchases from Russia and China.

The NATO chief told AFP that the operation was being carried out “in accordance with the principles of Serbia’s stated neutrality”.