03.03.2019.
Minister Vulin at volunteer military service
- I wish to set an example. As Minister of Defense, I took this opportunity to volunteer for training. As of tomorrow, once I have passed the medical checkups, I will become one of the reservists who will undergo a fifteen-day training. We will receive training for everything that we, who did not serve in the military, have not and now have the opportunity to do it, said Minister of Defense Aleksandar Vulin tonight in the Second “Dnevnik” of Radio-Television of Serbia.
- There is this rule in the armed forces: say – then show it, first do it – then order others to do it. If I can go, so can others. If I can give 15 days of my life annually, why couldn’t someone else do the same? There is no justification not to serve your country and not to fight for your country, Minister Vulin said.
As he pointed out, thanks to Aleksandar Vucic’s government policy, there is finally enough money to establish the reserve.
- From the time that the mandatory military service was abolished in our country to this day, more than 200.000 healthy, capable men have not received any kind of training and know absolutely nothing about the defense of their country. Since last year, since October, we started to do this, and now the second class of various specialist trainings is in progress. This year, 600 men will be trained in this way. These are men, women are not being called, older than 30 who did not serve in the armed forces, or done civilian service without weapons. So, in this way, they will finally be able to get introduced to all those aspects of defending their country, the Minister of Defense said.
As he said, it is 600 people now, and as we grow economically stronger, “I believe there will be more.”
- In this way, people are introduced to concrete mechanisms of defending their country for the first time. It is very interesting the opponents attacking this idea explain they would move from Serbia to Switzerland, if the idea is implemented, unaware that this is how Switzerland does this too. This is a model that is to a great extent copied from Switzerland and every military-capable citizen there spends at least 15 days a year in training with the armed forces. No one minds that military service is obligatory in Greece, Austria, the introduction of military training in Hungary even in elementary schools, but 15 days is too much in Serbia. It is too much to give 15 days a year, especially when you listen to those who would drive tanks as far as Prizren, but when you tell them to first prepare for the military service, to serve their country for 15 days a year, then it is too much, said Minister Vulin.
Speaking about call for conscientious objection, the Minister stressed that they will all be deployed in Civil Defense units where they will undergo proper training without carrying weapons.
- The non-respondents will pay the penalty of 50.000 dinars, but more importantly, if you report timely and explain what your problem is, then someone else will take your place, the Minister of Defense concluded.
