16.01.2023.
President Vučić attends briefing on results of 2022 analysis of Serbian Armed Forces' capabilities
The President of the Republic and Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces, Aleksandar Vučić, accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Miloš Vučević and the Chief of the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff, General Milan Mojsilović, has attended a briefing on the results of the 2022 analysis of the state and operational and functional capabilities of the Serbian Armed Forces. The briefing was held in Topčider’s Guard Club.
The briefing was also attended by Speaker of the National Assembly Vladimir Orlić, Prime Minister Ana Brnabić, Minister of the Interior Bratislav Gašić, Deputy Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs Aleksandar Marković, and senior officers holding the most responsible duties at the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces.Following the briefing, President Vučić said that during today’s briefing it had been ascertained that a lot of good things had been done, all the shortcomings had been considered, and procurement of additional weapons and military equipment had been discussed.
- We will have to focus more and allocate more funds for the Serbian Defence Industry’s production of new assets. Just as we have delivered PASARS systems, Lazar and Miloš armoured vehicles, Gvozdika howitzers, "Little Miloš" UGVs, and unmanned platforms, in the coming period we will focus on UAVs and drones, primarily the domestically-produced ones, and invest a lot in further improving the service members’ living standards - said the President of Serbia.
According to him, the number of people leaving the military still has a negative impact, although the number of recruits has increased over the last two years, for the first time in decades.- We are not satisfied, which is why we have decided to increase their salaries by 25 percent. On Statehood Day, February 15, I will issue an order, as supreme commander, and the Chief of the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff will launch a competition for admission of young men and women into Special Forces, aiming to reach the total number of 5000. New members will be admitted, and we will additionally reinforce our prominent, Level 1 special units, i.e. the 72nd Special Operations Brigade, 63rd Parachute Brigade and "Cobras", Level 2 units – Army battalions and reconnaissance units and Level 3 – brigades’ reconnaissance companies. So, those 5000 members will be assigned to L1, L2, and L3 units and their basic salary will be higher than 200,000 dinars. If you add compensation for on-duty time and extra hours, their salaries might go as high as 320,000 dinars. Those huge salaries are meant to stimulate young people to apply for the Serbian Special Forces – President Vučić emphasized.
According to the President, today they also discussed the negative impact of the war in Ukraine on us.- Since we cannot import weapons and military equipment as we have planned and as we have paid for, and since we cannot import spare parts, we have to focus on our own capacities as quickly as possible. We continue to work, we have studied the security environment, we have determined where the security threats lie, we have looked at the strength of other forces and compared our own strength to theirs and we will continue to do that - concluded President Vučić.
After the briefing, Minister Vučević said that the Ministry of Defence was satisfied with the SAF members’ behaviour, the way they were organized, their abilities, morals and patriotism in moments of crisis regarding the security situation in the province of Kosovo and Metohija.- As the citizens of this country, we express our gratitude to all members of the Serbian Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior for their engagement and readiness to perform every task in order to preserve the sovereignty and independence of our country and protect all our citizens - said Minister Vučević.
The annual analysis, conducted by General Mojsilović, examined and assessed the state and capabilities of the Serbian Armed Forces in the past year, the combat ability of Army, Air Force and Air Defence units, and the Territorial Forces, as well as the security situation in the country and in the area relevant to the operational capabilities of the Serbian Armed Forces.
It was concluded that in 2022, the strengthening of the Serbian Armed Forces had continued in accordance with the Supreme Commander’s guidelines for the building of operational and functional capabilities in the period from 2019 to 2023, that the Serbian Armed Forces had carried out all assigned tasks and demonstrated that soldiers and officers were strongly motivated, highly trained and ready to protect the state and citizens.
The briefing revealed the needs and made proposals for further enhancement of capabilities of the Serbian Armed Forces, in order for them to remain a factor of stability, peace and deterrence from external threats of armed attack.
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