site.btaBulgaria's Ambassador in Belgrade: NATO-Serbia Future Relations Will Depend on How Serbia Navigates Domestic, Foreign Policy Challenges

The future direction of NATO-Serbia relations will depend largely on how Serbia’s political leadership navigates its domestic and foreign policy challenges, Bulgaria's Ambassador to Serbia Petko Doykov said on an episode of Half an Hour Demostat podcast, published on Saturday. 

The interview expresses the position of the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It took place on February 14 and was devoted solely to the NATO topic.

"The partnership between NATO and Serbia is one of the most complex and delicate relationships within the broader context of the Alliance’s outreach to non-member states. Despite lingering tensions stemming from the past, the 21st century has seen a gradual shift in NATO-Serbia relations. Looking ahead, pragmatic cooperation in areas such as counterterrorism, defense reform, and regional security will likely continue to grow, albeit within the framework of Serbia’s policy of military neutrality. NATO is expected to remain an important partner for Serbia in the context of Serbia’s broader European integration efforts. Serbia’s collaboration with NATO can be seen as a means of demonstrating its commitment to regional stability and its alignment with Western standards, even if full NATO membership remains off the table," Doykov added.

He argued that the public opinion in Serbia remains largely skeptical of NATO, "particularly due to the lingering bitterness over the Kosovo conflict".

"However, as the security environment evolves and Serbia faces new challenges - such as cyber threats and regional instability - political leaders may find that deeper cooperation with NATO increasingly serves Serbia's best interests. Giving the evolving nature of global stability in the Balkans," Doykov said.

"We have a very active bilateral cooperation in the field of defence. The collaboration between our two countries, Bulgaria and Serbia, is progressing steadily, grounded in the friendly and good-neighborly relations established between the armed forces of the two countries. The Bulgarian Armed Forces place great importance on our close, pragmatic relations with Serbia, which are built on the foundation of mutual interest. Bulgaria continues to support Serbia's participation in the Partnership for Peace (PFP) program. Cooperation between our countries’ air forces has been particularly fruitful in recent years, demonstrating the value of joint training and exercises. Military education is another priority area for our collaboration. In addition to bilateral military cooperation, Bulgaria and Serbia also work together within regional defense initiatives, such as the Southeastern Europe Defense Ministerial (SEDM) Process," the Bulgarian Ambassador said on the podcast.