23.04.2024.

Ministry of Defence, Institute for Recent History of Serbia sign Cooperation Agreement

State Secretary in the Ministry of Defence Nemanja Starović and the director of the Institute for Recent History of Serbia, Mile Bjelajac, PhD, signed the Agreement for Scientific and Educational Cooperation between the two institutions today.

Speaking about the importance of the agreement, State Secretary Starović said that it gave him great pleasure to be able to sign the Agreement on Cooperation between the Ministry of Defence and the Institute for Recent History of Serbia on behalf of the Minister of Defence, Miloš Vučević.

- Signing this agreement today, on the Serbian Armed Forces Day, is no coincidence. I would like to emphasize that the system comprising the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces, in addition to the three key missions entrusted to it, can and must offer much more to the wider society. When it comes to science and the culture of remembrance, I think that our contribution can be quite significant - emphasized State Secretary Starović.

He is also satisfied that a pattern of cooperation with Serbia’s most reputable scientific institutes has been established, and is certain that this agreement will produce very good results, both in the field of scientific research, which is intense in the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces, and in the field of fostering the culture of remembrance and the traditions of the Serbian liberation wars.

- I would also like to remind you that within the Ministry of Defence, we have the Defence University and a network of institutions engaging in scientific research, including the Strategic Research Institute and the Military Archive, which are important even outside the borders of the Republic of Serbia. All this will be available to the wider society through cooperation with relevant scientific institutes - said State Secretary Starović.

Director of the Institute for Recent History of Serbia Bjelajac said he was genuinely pleased that by signing the contract between the Ministry of Defence and the Institute, the decades-long cooperation between individual researchers and the Institute as a whole with various organizational units of the defence system was being improved and formalized.

- This agreement will create even better opportunities, and we, as an institution founded by the Republic of Serbia, are at the disposal of the entire defence system when it comes to the specific activities that we can help with. Today, we also celebrate the Serbian Armed Forces Day, and throughout our recent history, its date has changed several times. The new traditions upheld by the Serbian Armed Forces support what is common - said Prof. Bjelajac.

This agreement defines future cooperation in the fields of human resources, research, publishing and programme development, given that the two institutions have mutual scientific and educational roles in modern society.

It also lays down the conditions for co-organizing and carrying out domestic and foreign scientific, educational, publishing and other activities, projects and programmes in the field of science and education, whose aim is to foster and promote the activities carried out by the signatories.

The signing of the agreement was attended by the Rector of the Defence University, Brigadier General Prof. Boban Đorović, and the Head of the Public Relations Department, Brigadier General Asst. Prof. Mihailo Zogović.