24.12.2024.
Message from President of Republic Aleksandar Vučić to mark December 24 - Air Force and Air Defence Day
The President of the Republic, Aleksandar Vučić, has sent a message to mark December 24 - the Air Force and Air Defence Day. The message reads as follows:
"On the occasion of December 24, the Air Force and Air Defence Day, I would like to convey my congratulations to all members of the service.
Over a century ago, pursuant to the decision by the Ministry of the Army and the General Staff, Field Marshal Radomir Putnik issued a decision to form the Air Force Command headquartered in Niš. At the turn of the 20th century, Serbia was one of the first countries in the world to start developing an air force.
Throughout the rich history of Serbia and its defence of the homeland, the airmen demonstrated heroism, high morale, excellent tactics and discipline and impressed the freedom-loving world with their persistent and organized defence, and readiness to lay down their lives in battle without any hesitation.
The results achieved are an indicator suggesting that the Air Force and Air Defence units of the Serbian Armed Forces are the successors of the Serbian army in 1912, when Serbia was one of the fifteen countries in the world to have an air force and one of the first five to use aircraft in warfare during the Balkan wars.
With great commitment and professionalism, with fully trained and highly motivated personnel, you continue to perform your duties of safeguarding and protecting the sovereignty of our airspace, as well as defending our territory, important facilities, administrative and industrial centres and SAF troops.
During the past year, the state continued to equip and modernize the Air Force and Air Defence units, which is another step towards strengthening and developing them.
I wish you a happy holiday and I hope you will continue to carry out your tasks and help build and develop your units and the Serbian Armed Forces as a whole”, the message says.
