03.11.2016.
Defence Minister in the Serbian National Assembly
Presenting the Proposal for Decision on the participation of Serbian Armed Forces in multinational operations and the Proposal for Decision on the Annual Plan of employment of the Serbian Armed Forces and other defence forces in multinational operations, Defence Minister Zoran Djordjevic said yesterday, in the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, that in 2016, the Ministry of Defence planned the participation of about 700 members of the Serbian Armed Forces in the operations of the United Nations and the European Union, at 340 positions."We are continuing our involvement in seven multinational UN-led operations in Congo, Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire, Cyprus, Lebanon, the Middle East and the Central African Republic and the EU-led missions in Somalia, Central African Republic and Mali. This year, pursuant to the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the United Nations concerning contributions to the United Nations stand-by arrangements system, a medical team, military observers and staff officers were declared, which is a total of 12 persons, who could be deployed at the invitation of the United Nations, to the UN missions in Western Sahara, the Republic of Mali, Jammu, Kashmir, South Sudan, Sudan and the Middle East. Also, the Proposal for Decision on the Annual Plan of employment of the SAF provides also for the deployment of our members to two EU crisis management operations – in the Central African Republic and in the Mediterranean", the Defence Minister said.
He explained that the execution of the Annual Plan of employment of the Serbian Armed Forces in multinational operations requires 1,672,750,000 dinars, in which the Ministry of Defence provided 1,092,749,000 dinars, and that the balance is compensated by reimbursements paid by the United Nations to the Ministry of Defence.Answering questions of MPs regarding the restitution of compulsory military service, the defence minister stressed that this is a matter which can certainly be argued, that the decision is to be passed by the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, but that the analyses show that the first year would require earmarking of about 70 billion dinars in the Serbian budget for this purpose.
Speaking about the humanitarian aid provided to Syria, Djordjevic said that the only message of that decision is that the people in Serbia are humane.
