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Belarus has not received Serbia’s refusal to participate in exercise

Earlier, Serbia’s Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin said the European Union had demanded Belgrade should refuse to participate in the exercise in Belarus

MINSK, September 9. /TASS/. Belarus has not received any official notifications from Serbia yet about its refusal to participate in the joint Russian-Belarusian-Serbian exercise Slavic Brotherhood-2020 beginning on Thursday.

"We have received no official documents concerning Serbia’s refusal to take part in the joint exercise," Belarusian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Gremeshkevich told TASS.

Earlier, Serbia’s Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin said the European Union had demanded Belgrade should refuse to participate in the exercise in Belarus. As a result, the Serbian government made a decision to freeze all joint military exercises.

The Slavic Brotherhood exercise traditionally brings together troop contingents from Russia, Serbia and Belarus. For the first time it took place in Russia in 2015. Since then it has been held alternatively in each of the three countries. This time it is due at the Brestsky proving ground of the 38th airborne assault brigade. The Belarusian Defense Ministry earlier said the participants would practice joint operations in the struggle against terrorism.

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