19.10.2016.
Defence System performs consistently
Parliamentary Committee for Defence and Internal Affairs has adopted a report of the Ministry of Defence for the first nine months today, and Minister Zoran Djordjevic said that the defence system is among the best in the country and provides stable operation and fulfilment of all tasks.Addressing the members of the Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs, Djordjevic said that in the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces there will be no downsizing or salary cuts, as this system has 36,000 assigned job positions and that number will not be reduced.
Admission of 300 professional soldiers is underway, the deadline is until 1st November, and next year admission of another group of 1,500 people is expected, which will fill the vacancies which are now the most missing, Djordjevic said and rejected the claims of certain members of the Committee for Defence and Security that there will be will salary cuts in the defence system, recalling that Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic announced an increase of not less than four percent.
The Defence Minister expressed the fact that by the end of September 72.2 percent of this year's budget was spent, which is 2.8 percent less than the planned spending dynamics. He says that slightly less than 38 billion was spent. He also pointed out that since the beginning of the year, 194 contracts on export of weapons were concluded, totalling 2.43 billion dinars.
Djordjevic reiterated that the defence system is one of the best systems in the country and pays special attention to the fight against terrorism and migratory movements, and he mentioned the help to the Ministry of Interior in securing the borders in the circumstances of increased migrations, as one of the priority tasks which the ministry and the military are dealing with. Speaking about the engagement of the military on the borders with Bulgaria and Macedonia, he said that 56 criminal charges were filed against smugglers and that since July more than 12,000 people were prevented from entering Serbia.
In addition to the training for reserve and regular elements of the Armed Forces, the Minister of Defence mentioned participation in UN and EU multinational peacekeeping operations as priority tasks. He stressed that the Serbian Armed Forces currently participates in ten UN and EU peacekeeping missions with a total of 332 members, of which slightly more than 10.5 percent are women, and the UN recognized the Serbian Armed Forces as a responsible partner, capable of fulfilling the tasks, which greatly increases the reputation of the entire country, not just the defence system.
Speaking about the doctrinal documents, the Defence Minister reminded that the applicable Defence Strategy was adopted in 2009 and that due to the passage of time and changing circumstances it requires some changes, so that the preparations for drafting of new strategic and doctrinal documents have already been made. He also announced plans for the improvement and refinement of legislation relevant to the defence and added that the laws on defence, the Serbian Armed Forces, on military education, on health care, on the production of arms and military equipment, on the employment of the Serbian Armed Forces in multinational operations outside Serbia, the military, work and material obligation will soon change, and that amendments will be submitted to the Serbian Government on one of its next sessions.Minister Djordjevic said that the military neutrality of Serbia provides a good basis for cooperation with all relevant states, and that the Ministry of Defence, with its activities, tries to run a balanced foreign policy.
Djordjevic also pointed out that the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces pay special attention to gender equality, as well as to military education, currently educating 1,385 people at all levels, 53 of which are from abroad.
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