Admiral Munsch: NATO Will Continue Developing Long-Term Partnership with Serbia

Stuart Munsch/BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV

Admiral Stuart Munsch, the Commander of the Allied Joint Force Command Naples, announced on Dec. 20 that the Alliance will continue developing a long-term partnership with Serbia and added that strong mutual relations are possible without Serbia joining NATO.

In an interview for BETA given ahead of his meeting with Serbian officials in Belgrade, Munsch stated that NATO has consistently invited Russia to play a constructive role in the Western Balkans but, according to him, the country “unfortunately continues to do the exact opposite.”

The admiral refrained from commenting on Belgrade-Moscow relations, particularly on Serbia’s refusal to introduce sanctions on Russia, but did commend the fact that Serbia voted against Russia in the United Nations.

“At my level, at the level of coordinating military relations between NATO and Serbia, I believe that the war in Ukraine has no negative repercussions on our ability to communicate and cooperate. I won’t comment on Serbia’s political decisions but I will commend Serbia’s support to the two U.N. General Assembly resolutions condemning Russia’s aggression against Ukraine,” said Munsch.

According to him, NATO representatives “regularly” witness Russian “hacking activity, disinformation, intimidation and other destabilizing activity” in the Western Balkans.

“Last year, Russia and China worked together within the U.N. to undermine the international community’s goal of extending the EU’s Operation ALTHEA [in Bosnia and Herzegovina]. This is just another example of Russia’s and China’s increasingly harmful influence on the Western Balkans,” the NATO commander said.

Munsch further stated that the KFOR is carefully monitoring the situation in north Kosovo and that the Alliance’s mission to the territory is “fully capable of and prepared for ensuring a secure environment and freedom of movement for all communities throughout Kosovo, in keeping with its mandate, based on U.N. Security Council Resolution 1244, from 1999.”

“We’ve been increasing our presence since October, among other things, by adding personnel and sending out patrols through Kosovo’s north this week. We expect all the actors to closely coordinate with the KFOR mission and to refrain from provocative shows of force, so as to preserve the security of all communities [in Kosovo],” Much concluded.