Spain and Serbia, united by the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon

Serbia's participation in the Eastern Sector of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), under Spanish command, began in 2010. Since then, the Armed Forces of the two countries have cooperated closely, always with the same objective: to uphold peace, security and stability in Lebanon, under the auspices of the United Nations.

In the region, the exchange of attacks and offensives has claimed the lives of dozens of people, including that of the Serbian soldier Milovan Jovanovic, who was killed a month ago whilst carrying out his duties under Spanish command.

Margarita Robles has highlighted the important work carried out by the UN peacekeepers on the mission in Lebanon, where "everyone demonstrates, day in, day out, their professionalism but, above all, their commitment to peace and the defence of democratic values." Indeed, Lebanon's future following the conclusion of the mission at the end of this year was one of the issues discussed during the Minister for Defence's meetings with the Serbian president, Aleksandar Vučić, and her counterpart, Bratislav Gašić.

Robles has conveyed Spain's willingness to explore, together with Serbia, "new forms of cooperation and collaboration that will enable us to capitalise on the experience and capabilities demonstrated by the Armed Forces on the Blue Line, for the benefit of the people of Lebanon and stability in the Middle East".

Furthermore, as part of their bilateral cooperation, Spain and Serbia have several agreements in place concerning the training of personnel at the Alcantarilla Military Parachuting School and the NBRQ Training Centre in Krusevac.

In the industrial sector, "Spain has a highly competitive technological and business base that can help Serbia to modernise its capabilities," said Minister Robles, who assured her counterpart that "we will convey Serbia's interest in upgrading its equipment with the support of Spanish industry".

Non official translation