Status and challenges of the defense reforms in the republic of Serbia for Euro-Atlantic integration

The main objective of this paper is to present the results of Serbia as a member of the A-5 group of SEE countries, which on the regional level through the Regional Cooperation Council has achieved good results, but on the national level this country should performed further reforms in the field of defense for Euro-Atlantic integration. Concrete steps in establishing the cooperation with the Partnership for Peace, the union of Serbia and Montenegro were submitted on 19.06.2003. The Military representatives of the Republic of Serbia in NATO for the first time were established on 27.09.2010, with the main task to represent the armed forces of Serbia in NATO headquarters in Brussels. Republic of Serbia in 2012 for the first time participated in crisis management operations in the EU. The main hypothesis is: Where is and where should be the Republic of Serbia in implementing the necessary defense reforms for Euro-Atlantic integration? The main hypothesis will be proven through the use of historical method and analysis of Serbian defense reforms. The reform process in some of the SEE countries is well under way. Some of them are waiting for an invitation and some of SEE countries have political disagreements or they have national problems which are not yet solved. One of the SEE countries which is on the way for Euro-аtlantic integration is Republic of Serbia. But having in mind the current military-political reforms and situation, the consent of NATO and EU accession of the Republic of Serbia in the Euro-Atlantic family and chronological change of public opinion in the Republic of Serbia for membership in NATO and the EU will be the auxiliary hypotheses in this paper. Keywords: interoperability, defense reform, Republic of Serbia, NATO, EU