The NATO/PfP Trust Fund Project for Assistance to Discharged Defence Personnel in the Republic of Serbia (NTF project) is one of the more complete ever financed by the NATO/PfP countries; it includes support to reintegration but also capacity building for the Serbian Ministry of Defence. Furthermore, over three and a half years of implementation, the NTF project has achieved significant results in different areas of implementation. It has assisted numerous discharged defence personnel and their families in their reintegration into civilian life; facilitated the defence sector reform process; enhanced Serbia’s socio-economic development and democratization; as well as contributed to stability within the Western Balkans region.



In that sense, the NTF projects is also a good example for learning best practices as well as better understand possible challenges in relation to possible future implementation of similar activities. Within that context, the NTF has produced a “Practice Note on Socio-Economic Reintegration of Redundant Defence Personnel”. This publication, as the first of its kind to be developed within the NATO/PfP framework, includes best practices and lessons learned from the implementation of the NATO/PfP trust Fund in Serbia.

Representatives of the IOM and MoD involved in the implementation of the NTF, have also been asked to present the NTF Serbian experience in different international meetings and conferences. It is in one of those conferences that the NTF staff and representatives from the Republic of Ukraine have started to discuss the opportunity to organise a visit to learn more about the Serbian model and to exchange experiences in the field of resettlement.



Thanks to the support of the Kingdom of Norway, a four-member delegation of the Ukraine Ministry of Defence, led by Mr. Ihor Kolosha, the Head of the MoD’s State Department of Adaptation of Retired Service Personnel and Conversion of Former Military Instanations, visited Serbia during the period 9-12 November 2009.

This visit was a great opportunity, both for Serbia and Ukraine to share the experiences, best practices, achievements and constraints in the field of resettlement activities. The NTF organised a range of meetings between the Ukrainian delegation, the Norwegian Embassy, Ministry of Defence/PRISMA Department, representatives of the NTF donors and the IOM-NTF management. Besides detailed presentations of the Serbian resettlement program and the model of concrete and comprehensive support that 16 donor countries, joined through the NATO/PfP Trust Fund, has been providing to Serbia, the Ukrainian delegation had the opportunity to visit several project beneficiaries who received NTF assistance and asses concrete examples on how discharged defence personnel successfully reintegrated into civilian life.

This visit was an excellent opportunity, for both the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Serbia and relevant NATO/Partnership for Peace countries, to further promote the Serbian/NTF approach to downsizing processes related to defence reforms. It is expected that this visit will open new perspectives for future collaboration between the NTF Serbia and the Republic of Ukraine.