Italy new NATO liaison to Serbia

Italy new NATO liaison to Serbia

BRUSSELS, Dec. 22 (UPI) -- NATO said Italy will be the contact-point country with Serbia for two years starting Jan. 1.
The Serbian news agency Tanjug quoted NATO diplomatic sources in Brussels as saying Italy's task will be to speed communication and improve cooperation between Belgrade and NATO. Norway formerly fulfilled that role.
In a related development, NATO opened its office in Belgrade Monday to assist reforms of Serbia's armed forces and movement of the alliance's troops to the southern mainly ethnic-Albanian Kosovo province.
On Dec. 14, in Brussels, Serbia joined NATO's Partnership for Peace cooperation program.
NATO troops have been stationed in the U.N. administered Serbia's Kosovo province since the alliance's air attacks on Serbian military targets to stop Belgrade's military campaign against ethnic-Albanians in Kosovo.