Military diplomacy can be defined as a set of activities carried out mainly by the representatives of the defence department, as well as other state institutions, aimed at pursuing the foreign policy interests of the state in the field of security and defence policy, and whose actions are based on the use of negotiations and other diplomatic instruments. This meaning differs military diplomacy from some other related phenomena such as gunboat diplomacy or coercive diplomacy. Military diplomacy as such performs several basic functions, which include the following: 1. Gathering and analysing of information on the armed forces and the security situation in the receiving state, 2. Promotion of cooperation, communication and mutual relations between the armed forces of the sending and the receiving state, 3. Organization of working visits of representatives of the defence authorities and of peaceful stay of the military units of the sending state in the receiving state, 4. Support of business contracts with arms and military equipment between the sending and the receiving state, and 5. Representation of the sending state and its armed forces at official ceremonies and other events in the receiving state.