Colonel Rašeta Received the French National Order of Merit
12. 03. 2019
Former Defence Attaché of the Republic of Serbia in the French Republic, Colonel Zoran Rašeta, was awarded the National Order of Merit, of the rank of a knight, in the Embassy of the French Republic in Belgrade. H.E. Ambassador Frédéric Mondoloni presented the order to Colonel Rašeta on behalf of the French President Emmanuel Macron.
According to Ambassador Mondoloni, during his service in France from 2012 to 2013, Colonel Zoran Rašeta singled himself out by his zeal for the strengthening of bilateral cooperation between the two countries, and by his professionalism and efficiency on the occasions of high level visits.
- As you know, the brotherhood in arms was forged during the First World War on the battlefield of the Thessaloniki Front. Last year, we marked together this centennial with numerous activities, organised by the French Embassy, Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Serbia and Military Academy – the ambassador reminded, stating that the significance of those activities rested in the fact that they enabled us not to forget the past, and helped building future defence relations.
Ambassador Mondolani underlined that the meetings between Serbian Minister of Defence Aleksandar Vulin and his French colleague Florence Parly held in Paris in the previous year, and between Minister Vulin and State Secretary in the French Ministry of Armed Forces Geneviève Darrieussecq in Belgrade, had also been an opportunity for the French officials to express their satisfaction with the fact that representatives of Serbia had participated together with France in numerous peacekeeping missions.
- Serbia is a Balkan country which gives the greatest contribution to peacekeeping missions, whether they are led under the flag of the United Nations or European Union. I wish to underscore once again that the behaviour of the Serbian soldiers is highly appreciated by our military personnel in those crisis regions, and that we are fully aware of the efforts made by the Serbian Armed Forces – Ambassador Frédéric Mondoloni sent the message.
Colonel Zoran Rašeta viewed the received order as a confirmation that the aspiration towards the enhancement of military relations between France and Serbia was successful.
-One of the tasks was for me to establish the best possible relations between our two armed forces, the French and Serbian. I believe that I succeeded in that. This is just the final act in giving the credit for merit and a confirmation of everything that we did together – our two ministries. We have created a foundation for future superstructure, chiefly in multinational operations – Colonel Rašeta emphasised and thanked all his colleagues who had supported him to that end.
The National Order of Merit is a French order established in 1963 by Charles de Gaulle in order to reward civilians or servicemen for noble services that they had done for the benefit of the nation. In protocol order, this medal is immediately after the Legion of Honour, which represents a reward for special civilian and military merits.
Colonel Rašeta Received the French National Order of Merit
Statement by Colonel Zoran Rašeta
