22.01.2021.
Media Centre “Odbrana“ marks its Day
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Nebojša Stefanović, PhD, attended today the event celebrating the Media Centre “Odbrana“ Day and the 142nd anniversary of the military press in Serbia at the Central Military Club. On this occasion, Minister Stefanović presented the “Ivan Marinković“ award for the best article in 2020 to Ms Biljana Radulović, a journalist at Radio Television of Serbia and a special award for a TV show to Ms Ljubica Zdravković Džonov from Radio Television “Vranje“.
Wishing everyone a happy holiday, Minister Stefanović pointed out that the Media Centre “Odbrana“ may have had fewer activities this year due to the coronavirus, but this had not diminished this important institution’s quality of work. Speaking about the history of the military press, Stefanović noted that the then Minister of War, Jovan Mišković, had stated in his order on launching the “Warrior“ magazine that “an army without its magazine is like a man without speech“.- Back in 1879, Serbia was one of the first 10 countries in Europe to haveits own military magazine, which has survived even through the most difficult periods of wars and suffering of our people, until today. Generations of the magazine’s editorial boards have encouraged our people, preserved the tradition and helped the magazine survive to this day changing its name from “Ratnik“ (Warrior) to “Odbrana“ (Defence) in the spirit of better times – Minister Stefanović said.
The Media Centre “Оdbrana“ is an institution which presents the activity of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces through its news, publishing and cultural activity, and informs the readers and viewers about current events in the field of modern world defence, and does not allow the Serbian military tradition to fade into oblivion, Minister Stefanović added.
- It promotes the values built into the foundations of Serbia - honour, courage and dedication. Today, our magazine is a worthy successor to the "Warrior" magazine and a witness of its time with a wide readership. As a military publisher, the Media Centre is also a notable participant in the International Book Fair in Belgrade. There are few institutions that can boast such a wide range of events, concerts, book promotions, lectures and exhibitions, which are highly rated among Belgrade and Serbia’s cultural events, so the Central Military Club, as a sole guardian of the military tradition and the rich history of the Serbian armed forces, is an unavoidable venue for culture fans - the Minister of Defence emphasized.
He expressed hope that the employees of the Media Centre would remain consistent in their work in the future, worthy successors to their founders, and that they would justify the public’s expectations with a creative and modern approach to work in the future.- We will try to help this institution stay a pearl of our culture in the coming period hoping that its new form will be something that all members of our ministry will be proud of in the next year or two – Stefanović concluded.
The director of the Media Centre "Odbrana", Lieutenant Colonel Biljana Pašić, pointed out that this past year had been difficult and that it had been marked by results that had once again moved the ladder of professionalism and endurance upwards.
- This year, an extremely important project awaits us - the renovation of the facade of the Veterans' Club Building. Thanks to the support and understanding of the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Culture and Information, this long-awaited "retraining" which will bring the Veterans' Club back to its former glory, but also prolong its life, will be one of our most important tasks - said Lieutenant Colonel Pašić.
Presenting the awards to journalists, the Minister of Defence pointed out that the awarded works were examples of professional reporting and thanked the authors for following the activities of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces.
The jury decided that the "Ivan Markovic" award should go to the feature story "Ana Perišić - the first female attack aircraft pilot" by journalist Biljana Radulović, which was broadcast on 31 October 2020 in the Serbian Radio and Television’s “Dnevnik 2“ news programme.Special award went to the television programme "Heroes from Reljan", dedicated to the fallen members of the 78th Motorized Brigade in Reljan and all fallen members of the armed forces in the fight against NATO aggression in 1999, by Ljubica Zdravković Džonov, which was broadcast on Radio-Television Vranje in June 2020.
The MoD’s plaque for the Media Centre’s associate of the year was awarded to academician Darko Tanasković, a professor, Islamologist, philologist, orientalist and diplomat, presented to him by the Head of the Public Relations Department, Colonel Mihailo Zogović, PhD.
The traditional Associate of the Year Award in the field of cultural promotion went to the "Milan Konjović" Gallery from Sombor, and Ms Milena Rackov Kovačević, the director of the Gallery, was presented with the plaque by the director of the Media Centre "Odbrana", Lieutenant Colonel Biljana Pašić.
Colonel Slaviša Vlačić, Head of the Military Academy’s Air Force Department, received the Associate of the Year of the News and Information Department Award which was presented to him by the Head of the News and Information Department and the “Odbrana“ magazine’s Editor-in-Chief, Ms Dragana Marković.Head of the Publishing Department, Miroslav Toholj, presented the Most Successful Associate of the "Military Book" Publishing Department Award in 2020 to Dragan Vujičić, the author of the book "The Grain of War".
At today's ceremony, the film "Challenge as an Inspiration for Better" was shown, which presents the Public Relations Department’s work results over the past years. The event also included the performance of a soloist, Sanja Čukanović, accompanied by a part of the Ministry of Defence’s Artistic Ensemble "Stanislav Binički" and members of the Military Academy’s musical band.
Media Centre "Odbrana" celebrates its Day in memory of 24 January 1879, when the first issue of the "Warrior" military magazine was published in Serbia, whose tradition is continued by the "Odbrana" magazine.
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