The Slovak Embassy has been serving as the contact point for NATO in Serbia since January 1, 2013, the TASR newswire reported on January 6.
Slovak Foreign Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajčák stressed that setting up a contact point does not mean that Slovakia will interfere with Belgrade’s position vis-à-vis NATO. The country refuses to join the alliance.
“We absolutely respect this, and we will also adjust our activities accordingly,” Lajčák told TASR.
Serbia’s President Tomislav Nikolic, a former key player in the government of Slobodan Milošević when Serbia was attacked by NATO in 1999, has recently stated that he would never propose the country’s NATO membership – even if Serbia’s own citizens wished this.
“The Partnership for Peace programme represents the maximum of our cooperation with NATO,” he said, as quoted by TASR.
Slovakia had a similar experience of serving as a NATO contact point in Ukraine (2007-10), which also declared that it had no interest in joining the alliance.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
