The Ohio delegation will arrive in Serbia tomorrow; an agreement on economic cooperation will be signed

A delegation of the Ohio National Guard and a business delegation from that US federal state will visit Belgrade tomorrow, when an agreement on economic cooperation between Serbia and Ohio will be signed in the following days, at the initiative of the Serbian Ambassador to Washington, Marko Djuric.

As Kosovo Online learns, a special plane KC-135 stratotanker of the US Army with a delegation of the Ohio National Guard and the Ambassador of Serbia to the US Marko Djuric will land tomorrow morning at the Batajnica airport.

At the invitation of Ambassador Djuric, a business delegation from Ohio will visit Serbia for the first time this week in order to sign a Memorandum of Understanding in the field of economic development with the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and meet with Serbian officials.

As confirmed to our portal by the Embassy of Serbia in the USA, the Ohio business delegation is joining the delegation of the Ohio National Guard, led by Commander Major General John Harris, which is coming for a traditional September visit to Serbia organized by the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defense.

On the initiative of Ambassador Djuric, an agreement on economic cooperation between Serbia and Ohio will be signed in Belgrade.

During their stay in Belgrade, the military and economic delegation of Ohio will hold talks with President Aleksandar Vucic, as well as with the civil and military leadership of Serbia.

Last year, on behalf of Serbia in Columbus, Ambassador Djuric signed the Agreement on Educational Cooperation between Serbia and Ohio, within which four schools from Serbia have already "paired" and cooperated with schools from Ohio.

In September 2022, President Vucic awarded Major General John Harris, Commander of the Ohio National Guard, with the Order of Special Merit for developing and strengthening cooperation and friendly relations between Serbia and the USA.

Serbia and Ohio have been successfully cooperating for 17 years through the State Partnership Program, established by the signing of the Status of Forces Agreement in 2006 in Washington.

The excellent cooperation and multilateral joint activities of the Serbian Army and the Ohio National Guard on the military-military level have over time opened up numerous opportunities to expand cooperation to the civilian dimension as well.

The civil aspect of cooperation was symbolically initiated by Prime Minister Ana Brnabic's visit to Ohio in January 2019, during which it was agreed to sign the upcoming Memorandum of Understanding in the field of economic development, as well as the Memorandum of Understanding in the field of education.

In addition, within the framework of civil cooperation with Ohio, a large number of visits and activities have been realized so far, among which is the twinning of cities in Serbia and Ohio, as well as the connection of our institutions, companies, and people.

Today, the partnership between Serbia and Ohio represents one of the backbones of bilateral relations between Serbia and the USA. The USA considers the state partnership program with Serbia to be one of the most successful bilateral programs among more than 60 such programs that the US states have with foreign countries.