09.02.2024.

Minister Vučević opens Training and Test Centre at Mine Action Centre in Velika Moštanica

Today, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence opened the Training and Test Centre, an innovative and educational park dedicated to mine action, at the Mine Action Centre of the Republic of Serbia in Velika Moštanica.

This innovative and educational park was built on the site of a former military complex in Velika Moštanica.

Minister Vučević said that the Mine Action Centre was the best example of how, when different sectors, i.e. organizational units of the state, unite, good and concrete results can be achieved in a relatively short period of time. He also said he was glad that the former military facility had been given new importance, new value and had become something that Serbia needed.

- When we talk about security, we don’t only refer to the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defence or the Police and the Ministry of the Interior. The Mine Action Centre is important for the security of our country and our citizens, too. The fact that you have built this innovative and educational centre deserves praise, as well as your effort to spread knowledge and train the people who will ensure greater security for all our citizens - emphasized Minister Vučević.

He expressed his hope that the map of Serbia would be cleaner in the period to come as regards the areas that need demining, for which the Centre was responsible, and added that we owed that to future generations.

- Many years have passed since various events, such as wars, incidents and accidents took place. I think that the citizens of Serbia deserve a safe and secure country. We should not always look for some bureaucratic and technical explanations as to why something has not been done, but to go ahead and do it. We should remove the ships left over from the Second World War, because enough time has passed for us to be able to do it. The same goes for what we experienced during NATO aggression in 1999 - said Minister Vučević.

The Minister of Defence thanked all the donors, embassies, international organizations and institutions that had helped and cooperated with the Centre.

- Work together, spread knowledge. This is being done for the benefit of our country and I am especially proud of the cooperation between the Mine Action Centre and the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces. It is the source of pride for the entire country, but also for the Ministry of the Interior, which is a link in that chain. Congratulations to everyone, I wish you a lot of success in your work, I hope you remove everything that needs to be removed from our fields, forests, pastures and cities, so that our citizens are safe - Minister Vučević said.

The director of the Mine Action Centre, Bojan Glamočlija, expressed his pleasure at the opening of the innovative and educational park, whose main tasks are to develop training in mine action, provide innovative solutions and ensure equipment testing.

- We are honoured that the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces have recognized the need to encourage and support the development of humanitarian demining in Serbia, step by step, through targeted action. By improving the capabilities of the Mine Action Centre, we want to send a message that our country is ready to meet the standards of the international community and that the course participants can be trained in accordance with the most modern requirements - said Glamočlija.

One of the tasks of the Mine Action Centre in the coming period, he said, will be to offer internationally recognized courses to institutions responsible for humanitarian demining in Serbia. He thanked the Government of Serbia, the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of the Interior, for supporting the Centre’s modernization and capacity building, in order for it to be able to offer professional development in accordance with international standards in humanitarian demining.

At the ceremony, the director of the Mine Action Centre presented the Minister of Defence with a plaque for his contribution to the improvement of mine action in the Republic of Serbia and for his selfless support and help for the Centre’s work and development.

After the presentation and a tour of the premises of the Training and Test Centre, Minister Vučević visited the display of demining tools and equipment.

In October 2023, the Mine Action Centre and the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff signed an agreement by which the Mine Action Centre would provide training in demining and unexploded ordnance removal to members of the Serbian Armed Forces free of charge and in accordance with the needs of the Serbian Armed Forces.

The opening ceremony was attended by Minister of the Interior Bratislav Gašić, Head of the Operations Directorate (J-3, General Staff) Major General Tiosav Janković, Head of Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Žarko Mićin, Head of Office of the Minister of Defence, Brigadier General Goran Momčilović, representatives of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces, the diplomatic corps, the defence industry and domestic demining companies.