US, Serbia ink military pact

US, Serbia ink military pact

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States and Serbia signed an agreement on military cooperation late on Thursday, seven years after US aircraft bombed Serbia to stop attacks on Albanians in Kosovo.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Serbian President Boris Tadic initialed the accord which foresees the eventual deployment of US troops on Serbian soil and the training of Serb soldiers in the United States, the State Department said.
“It is only fitting because Serbia and the United States have enjoyed good cooperation,” Rice said, noting the “tremendous transformation” in Europe in recent years. “And I look forward to the deepening of our defense relationship and indeed the deepening of our friendship,” she said.
Tadic called the military relationship the first step in expanding bilateral relations, especially on the economic front. “Without cooperation in the defense sector, we are not going to have cooperation in the economy,” he said.
In 1999 US forces led a NATO bombing campaign against Serbia to force Slobodan Milosevic to pull his troops out of Kosovo and protect Albanian refugees.
Tadic told reporters that he stressed to Rice Serbia’s opposition to an independent Kosovo, the breakaway region currently administered by the United Nations, saying such a move could lead to instability.
“Serbia is defending its national interests, while thinking about the rights of Kosovo and respecting those rights,” he said. “At the same time, it can be a precedent... What we need today in the Balkans is stability.”
Serbia and the United States reestablished diplomatic relations at the end of 2000 after the fall of Milosevic.