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Serbia will not join NATO as long as Vucic remains president, says defense minister

Aleksandar Vulin recalled that Belgrade was a participant in NATO’s Partnership for Peace project, which he described as "the optimal level of cooperation"

© AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic

MOSCOW, May 13. /TASS/. Belgrade will not become a member of NATO as long as Aleksandar Vucic is president, Serbia’s Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin told TASS in an interview.

"Militarily Serbia is a neutral state. And it will remain so. As long as Aleksandar Vucic is Serbia’s president and I’m defense minister, our country will not become a member of NATO. We cannot forget and we cannot forgive NATO’s aggression. There is no way of converting ourselves. We can look everybody boldly in the eyes, but far from all are able to look us in the eyes honestly," Vulin said.

He recalled that Belgrade was a participant in NATO’s Partnership for Peace project, which he described as "the optimal level of cooperation," for it was not an impediment to Serbia’s dialogue with Russia, China or the Collective Security Treaty Organization. In his opinion the sole force capable of guaranteeing the security of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija was the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR), so Serbia had to maintain a good relationship with NATO without joining the organization.

"We cannot be certain that we will be able to remain an independent country if we become a member of some military bloc. We wish to make decisions on our own. We do not want to be a NATO member because we were bombed and also because we do not what to be forced to do what others did to us. If NATO is against somebody, this does not mean that we are against that somebody, too. I do not want to be involved in others’ conflicts and clashes," Vulin said.

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