23.04.2025.

Awards presented to members of Ministry of Defence and Serbian Armed Forces

Today, Minister of Defence Bratislav Gašić, an envoy of the Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces and President of the Republic, has presented decorations to members of the Ministry of Defence and Serbian Armed Forces on the occasion of the Serbian Statehood Day — Sretenje and the Serbian Armed Forces Day, in the presence of Chief of the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff General Milan Mojsilović.

By decree of the President of the Republic, the Military Security Agency was awarded Order of the White Eagle with Swords, 1st degree, while 182 members of the MOD and Serbian Armed Forces received gold and silver meritorious service medals.

While congratulating the recipients, Minister Gašić has pointed out that, on this solemn and glorious day, he has the honour to present awards on behalf of President of the Republic and Supreme Commander Aleksandar Vučić to members of the MOD and Serbian Armed Forces who have earned them with their dedicated work, sacrifice and patriotism. He has emphasized that, for every soldier, every man who devoted his life to serving his homeland, award means recognition of value and sign of honour — it is a bequest to descendants and a pledge of dignity of the family name.

- From a number of respectable professions, military service stands out precisely because the people who undertook it put the well-being of their country and people before their own. The moral grandeur of that commitment, the willingness to make personal and individual sacrifices for the benefit of community, is the basic reason why citizens trust the Serbian Armed Forces and its members. That absolute status, that special place in the nation’s heart, was achieved by generations of ancestors who, wearing the uniform and insignia of our army, defended with their lives the right of the Serbs to existence, independence and living space — said the Minister of Defence, adding that the Serbian Armed Forces’ Day was not accidentally chosen as the day when members receive decorations of the Supreme Commander; in fact, today’s holiday connects them with their ancestors and their deeds, putting them together in glory and dignity.

According to him, the decorations that members will receive today speak of the effort invested in strengthening the country’s defence capabilities, which are incomparably greater today than they used to be only a decade ago.

- There is a consensus among the highest state representatives that the Serbian Armed Forces must be a critical factor in deterring any potential aggressor, which, thanks to the efforts made by you and your colleagues, has led to the fact that we are the most capable and equipped regional armed force today. For us, this achievement is not a goal, but only a segment of the road we will continue to follow with strength and determination. Therefore, there are important and serious tasks in front of us — to continue introducing modern weapons and developing new assets, training to use them in accordance with the nature and rate of modern armed conflicts, improving further the quality of life and work, raising the living standard and, perhaps most importantly, cherishing and promoting the military profession — Minister Gašić stressed.

He said that no media or promotional campaign, no advertisement on television or social networks can replace the human word, nor be more influential than the image that our members create in their social environments, and that we must be aware that we ourselves, members of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces, are the best and most effective promoters of our system that both our attitude towards service and our behaviour in a civilian life make a mosaic of the whole image of the institution we belong to.

- May today’s solemn act be one of the brilliant elements of that mosaic. Take home these wonderful decorations and show them to your family, friends, neighbours... Let the citizens of our country, and especially our youth, see that the state recognizes and values the Serbian Armed Forces, that it recognizes and values you — by name and surname, showing everyone that you set an example by the service you perform. Awarded members of the Ministry of Defence and Serbian Armed Forces, I congratulate you on all the success that brought you these valuable recognitions. May it be an honour and pride for you, your relatives, your units, commands and institutions. Long live the Serbian Armed Forces! Long live Serbia — the Minister of Defence concluded.