American General Hokanson: We have a fantastic partnership with Serbia

Serbia flag
The flag of Serbia / Photo: EPA-EFE/MARKO DJOKOVIC

General Daniel Hokanson, head of the US National Guard Bureau, says that some of the things Serbia and the US cooperate in are peacekeeping operations and the fight against cyber threats, and that Serbia is very active in that fight around the world, not just in the region.
Hokanson said in an interview with Kurir that the US National Guard has a fantastic partnership with Serbia.

"Our soldiers practice and train with the Serbian army and thus gain professionalism. "We can share what we've learned from each other and, at the end of the day, we're doing everything we can to keep our relationship good and our countries protected," Hokanson said.

Serbia and the USA have an enviable cooperation in the military domain. How can it be improved and expanded?

If we look at what has been done in the last 17 years, we use some areas where we can be better. Some of the things we collaborate on are peacekeeping operations and the fight against cyber threats. Serbia is very active in this fight in the world, not only in the region. Every time we meet, we see what we can learn from each other. The professionalism of both our armies makes both sides better and we can share lessons learned. This is a really great partnership," he says.

Can you tell us more about the importance of joint exercises?

When we train together, we try to make our equipment interoperable, so that we can communicate on the subject, and also learn, so that we can see what the advantages and disadvantages are. These are great opportunities when the members of the National Guard train with the army of Serbia, then we have the opportunity to work together and use the same type of equipment. We are also looking at how we could use it, not here, but in peacekeeping operations around the world.

What are the advantages for Serbia of the procurement of military equipment from the West that is interoperable with the equipment of military partners?

Serbia is part of Europe and in a certain way part of the West and if you look at the countries in the peace operations or in the military exercises, these are the forces we will work with. If you have similar equipment that is extremely durable and of high quality, it allows for joint work and cooperation, and if, say, we are in Sinai, it is possible to share lessons learned. If we use the same equipment, then we can share knowledge on how to use it better. It is usually necessary to have similar equipment to those you work with. When you look at peacekeeping operations, these are the forces that are most likely to come into contact with each other.

How do you evaluate the relations between NATO and Serbia?

Those relationships develop every day. If we go back to the Partnership for Peace program from 2006, the relations that we continued to develop and if you look at Serbia's participation in peacekeeping operations, for a small country and the number of troops that Serbia provides, it is really high level. Serbia is one of the countries that provide the largest number of soldiers per capita. At the end of June and the beginning of July, we will have a multinational peace exercise in Sinai, where the army of Serbia will work with the National Guard.

When it comes to the war in Ukraine, from your position, what are the assessments of the United States, is a compromise possible and when can we expect the end of this war?

I would like to know the answer to that question, but unfortunately, if you look at Russia's unprovoked brutal invasion of Ukraine, the humanitarian disaster that ensued, the number of civilians injured and killed, the destruction of the country, it is clear that it will take years and billions of dollars. to return it all. The National Guard, that is, the state of California, has a thirty-year partnership with Ukraine, similar to Serbia, and we have been training with them for years. We continued to train Ukrainian soldiers when the war began to enable them to defend their sovereignty and territorial integrity. We are not sure how it will all end, but we hope that the Ukrainians will be able to regain their sovereignty. It is up to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky to decide on this, and we would like the war to end and this disaster to end.

What can the US do to ensure regional peace and stability?

The most important thing is to help stability and peace in every way. The National Guard participates in KFOR and given the recent events, we realized that we need to work a little more on our capabilities, but also to work well together. For the United States, it's an opportunity to train with members of the Serbian armed forces, and as we look at not only our role in NATO, but Serbia's role in NATO peacekeeping operations, we try to do everything we can to help de-escalate if they a crisis situation arises. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken made it clear, he called on all parties whenever there is a potential conflict to calm things down and de-escalate the situation so that we can resolve everything by political means.

 

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