Commander of Allied Joint Force Command Naples Says NATO very much Appreciates Partnership with Serbia

Admiral Stuart Munsch (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV)

Admiral Stuart Munsch, commander of Allied Joint Force Command Naples, in Belgrade on Dec. 17 said that NATO very much appreciated its partnership with Serbia.

Ahead of the ceremony marking the change of command at the NATO Military Liaison Office in Belgrade, Admiral Munsch told reporters that NATO respected Serbia’s armed neutrality. “We have been formal partners with Serbia for 18 years now. NATO respects Serbia as a military neutral country, we very much appreciated the partnership we have with Serbia,” the admiral said.

Asked whether he could see Serbia joining NATO in the future, Munsch said that “there is a process which opens with a country applying for NATO membership, after which all NATO member countries consider the application.” Asked about the possibility of lifting moratorium on Serbia holding military drills with partner countries, Admiral Munsch said that the matter should be addressed to the Belgrade authorities.

On Dec. 17, Brigadier General Pierluigi Lodola officially took over command of the NATO Military Liaison Office in Belgrade from Italian Brigadier General Giampiero Romano. Later, the NATO Military Liaison Office in Belgrade organized a conference titled “NATO and Partners 2024: Lasting peace based on trust.”

The conference, marking NATO’s 75th anniversary, partnership between NATO and Serbia and other NATO partnerships across the world, was addressed by Romano, the ambassadors of the US, the Great Britain and Germany, and others.