Italian army chief visits Belgrade

Source: Tanjug

BELGRADE -- Italy believes it is time to speed up Serbia's EU integration, Chief of Staff of the Italian Armed Forces Admiral Luigi Binelli Mantelli said on Tuesday.

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Cooperation between the two countries' armed forces will facilitate Serbia's EU integration, Mantelli told a joint news conference with Serbia's Chief of the General Staff General Ljubiša Diković.

Italy is currently the Council of Europe's presiding country and will use the next 6 months to support Serbia's EU integration, Mantelli stressed.

It is time to speed up Serbia's integration, because history waits for no one, while problems keep piling up, he said after a meeting with Diković.

Italy sees Serbia as a factor of stability, not just in the Balkans, but also in Ukraine and in the Islamic world, in the context of crises that surround Europe and cause concern there, he underscored.

Italian soldiers are among KFOR troops in Kosovo in order to facilitate civil and social development, and they have Serbia's support in those efforts, he remarked.

According to Mantelli, cooperation in training air force ground troops and members of the river flotilla are areas where cooperation will continue in the future.

Diković said he was pleased with the level of cooperation so far, adding that he and Mantelli would discuss improvements in a number of areas during the Italian Admiral's visit.

According to Diković, those areas include military and military economic cooperation and joint participation in EU and UN missions.

The Serbian Armed Forces plan to send a unit to the UN peace mission in Lebanon as part of the Italian contingent there, which numbers over 1,500 troops, Diković noted.

The current security situation will also be among the topics during Mantelli's visit to Belgrade, since 750 Italian troops are part of KFOR, Diković pointed out.

"Our Italian friends support the Serbian Armed Forces reform completely," he stated.

According to Diković the discussions with Mantelli will include also the possibility of repairing Serbian military equipment in Italy.

Cooperation in military education, training and economy is well developed, Diković said, adding that he and Mantelli would talk about further improvements in those areas and addition of new forms of cooperation.

During his first visit to Belgrade, Mantelli, who was welcomed formally at the Serbian military headquarters, pointed out also that the armies of the two countries "worked together in the First World War, when the Italian navy helped the Serbian army evacuate from Albania so it could recover and return to the front."