NOVI SAD, Serbia, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- A Serbian Defense Ministry spokesman said Thursday NATO has not asked to establish a base in Serbia but its planes already are using the country's air space.
Spokesman Lt. Col. Zoran Puhac said he is aware of media reports saying a NATO base could be situated on a major route near Novi Sad, 50 miles north of Belgrade, but he could not confirm it, as no NATO request has reached Belgrade, Novi Sad's Gradjanski List daily reported Thursday.
Puhac said the movement of U.S. and NATO troops is under way in overflying Serbia but Serbian citizens are "not informed about this."
The flights are reported to Serbia's air control in advance and most of them fly on a route between Pristina, the capital of Kosovo province, and Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
U.S. and NATO troops are stationed in Kosovo and Bosnia to contain ethnic conflicts. Last year, NATO and the Belgrade government signed an agreement on a passage of foreign troops across Serbia.
NATO plans to open a liaison office with Serbia in Belgrade in the near future, the report said.
