The United States will continue to help the Serbian Army

The priority of US-Serbian military cooperation is the further development of the South base near Bujanovac, in southern Serbia, as the main training center for high NATO standards, equipping and training specialized units of the Serbian Army such as engineering and ambulances, as well as support for peacekeeping missions. is the head of the U.S. Office for Defense Cooperation (ODC), Lt. Col. Alexandro Pedraza.

The ODC is dealing with the cooperation of the Serbian Army with the Pentagon, Pedraza said in an interview for the Balkan Security Network portal.

He stated that the novelty in the cooperation is the American support to Serbia for the deployment of special operations forces in the international mission in Africa, while the joint work in the Training Center for Multinational Operations in Base South is a good example of help and cooperation based on partnership with the Ohio National Guard.

Pedraza reminded that the role of the ODC is to manage the state partnership program with Ohio, and that in the past 12 years, the Office has realized about 28 million dollars of direct assistance to the Serbian Army.

"Right now, we are helping to equip a company of Serbian engineers in order to support Serbia's intention to send them to international operations.

Our assistance includes expensive machinery for engineers and training necessary to use the equipment. So far, we have provided about $ 6.7 million in direct assistance to Base South alone. The equipment includes medical simulators, driving simulators, Humvees, advanced training equipment, simulators for snipers and a modern target system for combat shooting on the range, "he stated.

Speaking about the cooperation in the field of defense between the USA and Serbia, Pedraza assessed that Serbia is a professional partner.

"We hope to improve cooperation. We believe we can identify areas of security cooperation based on common security interests. These include international and peacekeeping missions, increased cooperation in military ambulances, engineering, logistics and tasks in the field of peacekeeping operations without the use of deadly means," he said.

Padraza pointed out that in the past two years, an extensive series of exercises has been conducted, which include multinational exercises, exercises in the field of peacekeeping and cyber defense operations, air search and rescue operations, exchange of military priests and others.

"It is in the interest of both the United States and Serbia to export security around the world, because the nature of global interconnection networks is such that the instability of one place can quickly affect another. The United States and Europe are in a better position to work together in harmony ", added Pedraza.

He reminded that the United States had previously donated a number of Hamvi off-road vehicles to the Serbian Army worth more than six million dollars, and added that, in the meantime, Serbia had decided to enter direct purchases of that vehicle from the manufacturer, so ODC was no longer involved in those activities.