May 8, 2007
Embassy of the United States of America
Belgrade

State Partnership Program Regional Workshop in Dubrovnik, Croatia

On May 9 and 10, Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, Chief of the U.S. National Guard Bureau will open a regional workshop for our State Partnership Program (SPP) partners in Dubrovnik, Croatia. Participants will include senior military representatives from the Ministries of Defense of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Hungary, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia, as well as the U.S. National Guard Commanders from the partner states.

The workshop is a regional effort to identify the most effective ways SPP can contribute to building and maintaining military capabilities to meet NATO standards and participate in NATO-led operations; define the SPP’s most productive approaches to strengthening capabilities for military support to civil authorities, including border security and port security activities; and, to assess the effectiveness of SPP’s civilian-to-civilian activities, including business, education, medical, science and legal exchanges.

SPP: Serbia and the State of Ohio

On September 7, 2006, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Serbian President Tadic signed a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) that will permit regular military exchanges and exercises between the U.S. and Serbia. The SOFA also opened the door to a new partnership, the State Partnership Program (SPP), between the Serbian military and the Ohio State National Guard. During President Tadic's trip to the United States in September 2006, he met with Ohio Governor Bob Taft and U.S. Senator George Voinovich to announce this new partnership. Senator Voinovic said that he believes "that this partnership begins a new chapter in the relationship between the United States of America and Serbia.” In the words of General Blum, "Serbia is key to the future of democratic freedoms and principles in the Balkan region."

For more information on Bilateral Military Cooperation, please visit: http://belgrade.usembassy.gov/feature/200611.html

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