SERBIA – Military Liaison Office (MLO) within JOINT ENTERPRISE, NATO
The Military Liaison Office (MLO) is located in Belgrade, Serbia. Its main mission is to serve as a link with the military authorities of Serbia on the practical aspects of the implementation of the Transit Agreement between NATO and Serbia, which was signed on 18 July 2005. The purpose of this Transit Agreement is to improve the logistical flow to and between NATO operations in the Western Balkans.
The office facilitates the implementation of Serbia's Partnership for Peace Programme with NATO and provides assistance to NATO public diplomacy activities in the region. Its tasks also include support of the Serbia/NATO Defence Reform Group, which has been in force since February 2006. The Defence Reform Group, which is co-chaired by Serbia and NATO, was established with the aim to provide advice and assistance to Serbian authorities in order to enable them to reform and modernise the Serbian Armed Forces and to build a modern, affordable and democratically controlled defence structure in Serbia.
The Slovenian Armed Forces (SAF) have participated in the MLO since 13 January 2007. Their task is to coordinate and provide free movement of NATO goods and passengers over the territory of Serbia, make the necessary additional agreements (host nation support) with Serbian authorities, coordinate and link with NATO points of contact and host-nation authorities, maintain permanent links with Serbian ministries, cooperate and coordinate with other international organisations, facilitate the crossing of Serbian national borders for NATO forces, and provide persons of contact in all types of activities related to transport over the territory of Serbia.