13 January 2017, 16:27 GMT
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — A fire swept on Tuesday through one of production facilities at a military repair and engineering plant in the city of Kragujevac. The ammunition explosion killed one worker and injured 25, while several others went missing.
"As the Serbian authorities are working to establish the facts of this tragedy, I want to convey NATO's solidarity at this difficult time," Stoltenberg said in a statement.
The NATO chief reiterated that Serbia was the bloc’s "valued partner." "The Alliance remains committed to helping the countries of the Western Balkans, including Serbia, to safely store their weapon stocks and to destroy dangerous surplus ammunition," he said.
NATO is unpopular in Serbia because of the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999 and its support for Kosovo's self-declared independence from Serbia.
