NATO is open to cooperation and fully accepts and supports decisions of every individual country, the French general said at a news conference in Belgrade on Tuesday, on the occasion of the opening of a two-day Strategic Military Partnership Conference in the Serbian capital.
The conference, organised by the Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT), has brought together delegations from some 60 countries, including Croatia.
Those delegations include deputy chiefs of staff and other officials of NATO member states, as well as of members of the Partnership for Peace, the Mediterranean Dialogue, the Istanbul Co-operation Initiative and senior officials of the European Union and NATO.
The aim of the conference is to exchange experiences and opinions on the most important strategic matters of common interest and the implementation of the transformation.
General Abrial said that NATO would like to have such a relationship with Serbia as suited Belgrade, and a decision on NATO membership would be Serbia's sovereign decision.
Serbia is a key player in the security and stability of the Western Balkans and the deepening of relations between Serbia and the NATO can benefit the entire region, he added.
The fact that Serbia wants to remain neutral will not impede our cooperation. We have already developed strong cooperation with neutral European countries, including Austria, Sweden and Switzerland, the general said.
The Serbian army chief of staff, General Miloje Miletic, said that the Serbian army's commitment to the development of inter-operability could be achieved only through cooperation with other armies and partner countries.
Serbian Defence Minister Dragan Sutanovac said that contemporary challenges, risks and threats had become transnational a long time ago which was why no country in the world can alone deal with them.
"The key to this problem lies in the international cooperation of all factors in the security sector. In my opinion, success will be measured by cooperation, while lack of cooperation will lead to failures and multiplication of problems," the minister said.
He called on anti-NATO protesters, led by the Serb Radical Party and the Democratic Party of Serbia, not to bloc traffic.