The respect which the world has for the Serbian Armed Forces has resulted in the NATO conference being held in Belgrade, said Serbia's Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac and pointed out this was a security event, not a political and strategic one.

"We believe the Serbian army, in addition to becoming the most trusted institution among people in Serbia, has also presented itself in the best light abroad, and the respect it enjoys in the world has resulted in such a big conference taking place in Belgrade," Sutanovac told Free Europe.

Asked if the event is indicative of NATO's aspirations to have neutral Serbia join the Alliance some day, or of Serbia's accession aspirations, the minister said it was not a strategic or political, but primarily a security conference.

"This conference will in no way distance Serbia from NATO, nor bring it closer. On the contrary, Serbia will ask to fulfill its needs withing the Partnership for Peace (PfP) program. We believe this is sufficient cooperation between Serbia and NATO at this point in time."

According to Sutanovac, Serbia is asking for more space because it believes its army is still not exploiting all the benefits and opportunities offered by PfP, which are used by other armies.

Asked why NATO chose to hold the conference in Belgrade, Sutanovac said:

"This conference is usually held in countries which are not members of NATO. The last one was in Finland. I cannot say how the decision is made, but I believe that, first and foremost, they look for places that can host a high-quality conference, where the event will be safe and secure, and they will feel good. This shows that Serbia meets all of these requirements."

Talking about the relations between Serbia and NATO, especially in the light of the 1999 bombing, Sutanovac said the relations were quite good.

Asked why Serbia is neutral and how long it will remain that way, Sutanovac said that military neutrality is not an issue for the Armed Forces or the Defense Ministry, but for the parliament and the country's strategic orientation.

He noted that there are five EU member countries right now which are not in NATO, which means Serbia does not have to join the Alliance to enter the EU.

He specified that his job as the head of the Defense Ministry is to bring the army up to the highest standards possible with the available budget funds.

"We are doing just that, and we are using the NATO standard, as it is the most commonly recognized and the best standard right now as far as defense, military and the military industry," the minister concluded.