NATO lifts aerial restrictions against SerbiaBelgrade, 20 November 2015 (MIA) - NATO lifted 16-year old flight restrictions against Serbia along the boundary with Kosovo, reflecting Belgrade‘s improved ties with the West, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Friday, DPA reports.
"As of today [NATO‘s mission in Kosovo] KFOR will fully relax the air safety zone. This means that the restrictions that have been in place since 1999 are now lifted," Stoltenberg said in Belgrade after meeting Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic.
"This is a very concrete expression of the improved relationship between NATO and Serbia," he said.
NATO bombed Serbia in 1999 to end the crackdown of Slobodan Milosevic‘s regime on the majority Albanians in Kosovo. The ousting of Belgrade‘s forces from the province paved the way for its formal secession in 2008.
Serbia has since remained militarily neutral, cooperating with NATO but maintaining close ties with traditional ally Russia. Its position turned into a tightrope act after NATO and Russia clashed over Ukraine.
"I am also aware of the sensitivities in Serbia towards the Alliance," Stoltenberg acknowledged. "Our air campaign was never against the Serbian people. It was about stopping unacceptable actions by the Milosevic government."
NATO will continue its peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, Stoltenberg said.
While refusing to accept Kosovo‘s independence, Serbia has agreed to normalize relations with it in a process brokered by the European Union.
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