Milan Mojsilovic: “Russia will, as our strategic partner, continue to offer manifold support, for which we are grateful to them. We have with the partnership and friendly relations, and cooperation is increasingly better from year to year”, said the Serbian Army Chief-of-Staff for Vecernje Novosti on Monday after meeting in Moscow with General Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Army.
What did you discuss specifically?
“We discussed many topics, from the situation in the Balkans to the problem of migrants. Proof that the host was interested in talks is also that, notwithstanding the great number of delegations in Moscow, he dedicated more than one hour to us. We especially analyzed the situation in Kosovo. We still believe that this is Serbian territory, and the unilateral moves by Pristina deteriorate the security situation. We received support from the Russian military leadership on how to act concerning Kosovo. Naturally, we are especially interested in the safety of the Serbs, not only in north Kosovo but rather in the whole province.
You also discussed the migrants, as well as the danger from the return of Muslim extremists from Syria. This is a matter of concern not only for the Russians but also for the Balkan countries. Do you have a ready answer to this challenge?
“As far as the migrants are concerned who want to get to Europe, their number has decreased, but the trend of this phenomenon is unpredictable. Turkey is succeeding in keeping off a great number of refugees. We are endeavoring to have control over the so-called Balkan route of migrants. There are currently about 4,000 of them in Serbia.” (…)
NATO is suspicious concerning our maneuvers with the Russians…
“To the objections that come from the West from time to time concerning our participation at the exercises in Russia, I say: we are open and ready for cooperation and carrying out exercises with everyone. The essence of these activities is that this cooperation helps us to raise the quality of our units”, Milan Mojsilovic said.
