Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic voiced satisfaction on Tuesday with the excellent cooperation with the Greek Embassy as NATO contact point in Belgrade in promoting the partnership between Serbia and the Alliance.

The minister expects that cooperation to continue with the Norwegian embassy which took over as contact point at Tuesday’s ceremony.

According to Dacic, NATO and Serbia have significantly improved their cooperation in all areas of common interest, both civilian and military. Work is underway on the new Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) for the next three years he said.

“Serbia’s policy of military neutrality has not been questioned at any time and that remains our decision which our NATO partners respect fully,” he said, adding that he expects the Alliance to show understanding for Serbia’s cooperation with non-NATO countries.

“Our relations include the responsibility and obligation to jointly build a stable region and enable its fundamental prosperity by contributing to peace and stability in the wider region,” the foreign minister said.

Dacic said he expects NATO to show understanding and support for Serbia’s priorities, especially in terms of Kosovo. “A Belgrade-Pristina agreement will not be damaging to any third party and there is no reason for what the two sides find acceptable to become unacceptable to anyone else,” he said and reiterated Belgrade’s opposition to the transformation of the Kosovo Security Forces into a military.

NATO guarantees that the Kosovo Security Forces and other armed Albanian formations will not be allowed to deploy in northern Kosovo without the approval of the KFOR commander and local Serb leaders is of crucial importance, Dacic said.