A recent session of U.S.-Serbia Bilateral Defense Consultations ended with both countries pledging to execute a five-year bilateral exercise plan.

During the consultations held in Belgrade on November 8, U.S. Air Force Brig. General Nicholas Gentile, USEUCOM Deputy Director for Planning, Security Cooperation, and Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Serbian Assistant Minister of Defense Predrag Bandić agreed to pursue bilateral exercise engagements as a key pillar of security cooperation between the two nations.

“As the deputy director of the USEUCOM plans and policy directorate, we are extremely excited about the commitments from both parties to further enhance our security cooperation relationship and advance our shared regional security objectives. Both parties agreed to the development of a long-range exercise construct that will provide annual opportunities for our forces to operate alongside each other under robust and dynamic exercise scenarios. These engagements will provide invaluable training opportunities and more importantly, will allow military personnel from both countries to learn from the experience and expertise of their counterparts,” Gentile said.

Gentile was part of a U.S. delegation led by Nate Adler, Performing the Duties of Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia. Other members of the delegation included U.S. Ambassador to Serbia Anthony Godfrey and Army National Guard Maj. Gen. Steven Stivers, Director of the Joint Staff, Ohio National Guard.

“We welcome Serbia's support on deepening our defense relationship both bilaterally and under NATO’s partnership constructs. These consultations and the resulting exercise plan allow us to chart the coming years of security cooperation between our two countries,” Adler said.

In addition to completing the bilateral exercise plan, both parties reviewed a Special Operations-focused exercise and training five-year plan, and the continuance of existing multi-lateral exercises, including several activities conducted through Serbia’s military engagements with the Ohio National Guard through the State Partnership Program.

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About USEUCOM

U.S. European Command (USEUCOM) is responsible for U.S. military operations across Europe, portions of Asia and the Middle East, the Arctic and Atlantic Ocean. USEUCOM is comprised of more than 64,000 military and civilian personnel and works closely with NATO Allies and partners. The command is one of two U.S. forward-deployed geographic combatant commands headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. For more information about USEUCOM, visit https://www.eucom.mil.