NATO Official: We Respect Serbia’s Choices, Cooperation Mutually Beneficial

Rob Bauer, chair of the Military Committee of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV)

Rob Bauer, chair of the Military Committee of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) said during an Oct. 28 visit to Belgrade that the Alliance respected Serbia’s neutral military status as a choice made by a sovereign state that did not threaten international order, adding that cooperation between his organization and Serbia had been mutually beneficial.

In an interview with the BETA news agency Bauer underlined the role of the Kosovo Force (KFOR) in protecting stability in Kosovo, saying that he hoped that a dispute between Belgrade and Pristina over car license plates would be resolved through dialogue. Speaking about Russia’s war against Ukraine, Bauer said that a Russian attack on a NATO state would be “a red line” , which, if crossed, would entail the Alliance’s direct engagement in the conflict.

When asked if the Russian war against Ukraine was affecting cooperation between Serbia and NATO, bearing in mind not only Serbia’s neutral military status, but also Belgrade’s refusal to introduce sanctions against Moscow, the NATO official said that his organization “respects the choices that a sovereign state might make, if they conform with the international order based on rules.”

“Thod is the starting point for bilateral relations – to respect the choices that a state may make. For Serbia it is being militarily neutral. The sanctions (against Russia) are important in terms of international relations, but that is Serbia’s internal affair,” said Bauer, who commanded the Netherlands Armed Forces from 2017 to 2021. He also said that NATO was not imposing anything on Serbia, but was helping the country improve its own security and ability to defend itself and assist in peace operations across the globe.