The defense ministers of Greece and Serbia and Montenegro reached agreement in Athens yesterday on cooperation between their armed forces and defense industries.

The visiting defense minister of Serbia and Montenegro, Boris Tadic, and his Greek counterpart Yiannos Papantoniou said at a press conference after their meeting that a Greek officer would be sent to Serbia and Montenegro with the aim of helping the former Yugoslav state modernize its armed forces and realize its goal of joining NATO. In addition, the two ministers agreed on a more frequent exchange of visits between senior defense officials for the purpose of military training.

"It was generally a very positive and useful meeting and reflected the strong friendship between the two peoples," said Papantoniou.