09.02.2018.

The Minister of Defence in the Barracks “Car Lazar” in Kruševac

Minister of Defence Aleksandar Vulin attended today the conduct of a part of the training in the barracks “Car Lazar” in Kruševac, and visited the Regional CBRN Centre, which is one of our most renowned training centres.

- In every country of the world where I talked with the representatives of other ministries of defence, our Centre in Kruševac was always one of the topics and there is always a strong need to send here the representatives of other armed forces, who learn from us and who can benefit a lot from our experiences. The Centre, apart from the fact that it could be equipped with the state-of-the-art equipment, provides exceptional expert and teaching personnel, so we are proud of it, and in the future it will not only play its current role, but it will in any sense be improved and gain new contents and capacities.

This year, the Ministry of Defence, in line with the order of the Supreme Commander Aleskandar Vučić, the primary task will be to increase the combat readiness, wish means far greater focus on training, of both the reserve and active members. The Ministry of Defence will considerably expand its capacities in terms of training and the number of people who undergo the training and in terms of certain skills. Of course, we will particularly pay attention to physical fitness of our members, and not only those of special units, because all the members of the Serbian Armed Forces have to be ready to respond to all the challenges in front of them. In April, we will be ready to face the Supreme Commander and report on the execution of all the orders and measures that we were given at the meeting in December, and to analyse the state of our armed forces and specific orders given for its upgrading – said Minister Vulin.

The minister talked with the participants of the exercise of the international team for assistance and support in case of chemical weapons of the UN Organisation for Prevention of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), met the Mayor of Kruševac Jasmina Palurović and Head of Rasina administrative district Branislav Vesić with whom he visited the Command for Development of Rasina Brigade, Centre for Logistics Training, seminar rooms and rooms for the accommodation of the members of foreign armed forces and the Memorial Room of the Command for Development of Rasina Brigade.

After the tour, Minister Vulin pointed out that the town of Kruševac and Rasina district loved the armed forces, and that it was confirmed by a great number of members coming from that area, and by significant response to the calls for the reserve, and by the relation of the local government and Rasina administrative district towards the units of the Serbian Armed Forces.

- The town of Kruševac cooperates very well with our armed forces, it is always there to help with small everyday matters, like the enrolment of the children of our members on kindergartens, and also for the very significant matters when it is necessary to help our armed forces in terms of accommodation or anything else. The armed forces repay that to the town of Kruševac, and they repay it to the District, by acting in difficult times, during floods or whatever happens, so that the local government can always count on us. We also repay them by rejoicing together, by celebrating together the important dates and holidays – said Minister of Defence Aleksandar Vulin.

Mayor of Kruševac Jasmina Palurović said that she talked to Minister Vulin about the cooperation of the town of Kruševac with the Serbian Armed Forces.

- We established that this cooperation is at an extremely high level. Kruševac traditionally has good cooperation with the armed forces and we will continue that cooperation in all segments, and I would particularly point out the cooperation in 2014 when the armed forces rendered great assistance during the floods and the emergency situation. We will continue working, helping each other because our people is oriented to the armed forces and we are here to assist in the segments that require it and be at disposal to our armed forces – said the Mayor of Kruševac.

Commander of the Command for Development of Rasina Brigade, Colonel Sreten Zafirović said that during the visit, the present were able to gain insight into how specific the Kruševac garrison was.

It includes the Command for Development of Rasina Brigade, 246th Battalion, as the Army operational unit and two centres for specific training. Today, you had an opportunity to see how great significant of these units in defence system is. The Command for Development of Rasina Brigade, primarily carries out the preparation for the mobilisation of Rasina Brigade, which every year grows in number of its members, individuals from regular composition that we train. Last year we trained more than 350 people and the plans for this year are close to 500. The CBRN Training Centre is the most renowned in terms of international cooperation, and this year it us responsible for the organisation and execution of a multinational exercise the “Balkan Response” which envisages the attendance of representatives of eight countries and as much representatives in the capacity of observers. Centre for logistics training is our most hardworking centre of the armed forces which annually trains over 3000 people, and also the 246th CBRN Battalion which successfully plans, organises and carries out antinuclear, chemical and biological protection of all the units of the Serbian Armed Forces – said the Commander of the Command for Development of Rasina Brigade.

The minister of defence was informed about the course of the training and plans for the following year, and the mission and use of the units by the Commander of the Command for Development of Rasina Brigade - Colonel Sreten Zafirović, Commander of the Centre for Logistics Training – Colonel Dragan Ljubić, Commander of the CBRN Training Centre – Colonel Ivan Lazarević and of the 246th CBRN Battalion – Lieutenant Colonel Zoran Vukadinović which was followed by the minister’s tour of the training seminar rooms and rooms for the accommodation of the members of foreign armed forces in the CBRN Training Centre.