Gasic, Belgium's Francken meet in Belgrade

BELGRADE - Serbian Defence Minister Bratislav Gasic met with Belgian Defence Minister Theo Francken in Belgrade on Tuesday to discuss the political and security situation in the region, potential cooperation and the situation in Kosovo-Metohija.

"Gasic stressed that Serbia is committed to military neutrality and that it will continue to develop and improve relations with other states and military-political alliances, in accordance with its own interests, in order to strengthen regional and national security," a government statement said.

"Speaking about the situation in the Autonomous Province of Kosovo-Metohija, he noted the security threat posed by the process of transforming the so-called Kosovo security forces into the so-called Kosovo armed forces.

According to him, this process represents a gross violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 and the Military-Technical Agreement.

The Minister emphasised the importance of the return of the armed forces of the Kingdom of Belgium to the KFOR Mission, which creates additional guarantees for the security and survival of the Serb population in the southern Serbian province.

Serbia, he underlined, will remain committed to the process of dialogue and the peaceful resolution of all issues, emphasising the importance of continuing the impartial implementation of the tasks of the KFOR Mission in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1244.

The interlocutors agreed that there is concrete scope for establishing bilateral cooperation in the field of defence, in the mutual interest of both sides," the statement also said.