Serbia hosts first joint military exercise with NATO

The two-week-long drills come less than 30 years after NATO bombed Belgrade in the Kosovo war.Serbia and NATO have launched their first-ever joint military exercise, a landmark cooperation between the Balkan country and the alliance that bombed its capital less than 30 years ago.The two-week-long drills, which began on Tuesday and run until May 23, involve about 600 troops from Serbia, Italy, Romania and Turkiye. Military planners and observers from France, Germany, Italy, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Turkiye, the United Kingdom and the United States are also participating.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Europe’s little-known mutual defence clause: Is it a NATO substitute?list 2 of 3NATO assessing details of US troop withdrawal from Germanylist 3 of 3NATO chief says Europeans have ‘gotten the message’ from Trump on defenceend of listPhotographs released on Tuesday showed Serbian and NATO soldiers standing side by side at a military training ground near Bujanovac in southern Serbia, alongside armoured vehicles from both forces.“The cooperation is aimed at preserving peace and stability in the region,” Serbia’s Ministry of Defence said.“The planning of this exercise has been an important part of this joint endeavour. Both NATO and the Serbian Armed Forces have a long track record of major international exercise planning, so the teams were able to collaborate and deliver in a seamless way, sharing ideas and experience,” Royal Navy Commander Ian Kewley said in the news release.The tactical exercise falls under NATO’s Partnership for Peace programme, which Serbia has been part of for nearly 20 years. The country regularly participates in drills with NATO members, though this marks the first exercise conducted directly with the alliance.Sensitive subjectNATO remains a sensitive subject in Serbia following the alliance’s 1999 air campaign against Yugoslavia during the Kosovo war.