26.05.2014.

An infantry company in the peacekeeping mission sent off to Lebanon

A ceremony on the occasion of sending off the members of the Infantry Company of the 21st Infantry Battalion of the 2nd Army Brigade into the UN UNIFIL mission to Lebanon has been held in the “Stefan Nemanja" barracks in Raska today.

The ceremony was attended by Defence Minister Bratislav Gasic, Chief of General Staff Ljubisa Dikovic with associates, representatives of local authorities and numerous relatives and friends. Flag of the company to be deployed within the Spanish battalion in the peacekeeping mission was taken by the Commander, Major Goran Roganovic.

Defence Minister Bratislav Gasic, addressing the solemn ranks, said that the defence system develops the capacities and capabilities of all three defined missions of the Armed Forces. He said that the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces continue to employ the available capacities and invest maximal efforts in order to provide assistance to the population, prevent damage and eliminate the consequences of the unprecedented scale disasters that have stricken our country.

- The Republic of Serbia continues to deploy its military units in multinational operations of the United Nations in building and maintaining peace and security in the world. Members of the Serbian Armed Forces represent the army and the country in the best light, both to the citizens of Cyprus, Liberia, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire and other countries, and to other members of the armed forces with whom they work together – Minister Gasic said.

He underlined that the peacekeepers are mostly capable and responsible people who help local population and save lives in remote places every day just as they have helped our citizens in recent days.

- For their knowledge, professional and dedicated work, our soldiers received numerous awards and decorations, gained respect of their colleagues and won the sympathy of the local population – the Minister said. He said to the soldiers and their officers that the upcoming engagement is a great challenge for them.

- You will work in an international environment, use a foreign language, will stay on the field that is insufficiently known to you, in a climate that is not like ours, you will meet different cultures, as well as the customs and habits of their colleagues in other countries – the Minister said and called upon them to act honestly and humanely at all times as befits the members of the Serbian Armed Forces.

Chief of General Staff Ljubisa Dikovic said that our members in peacekeeping missions under the UN flag are doing very well, that they set standards and that they should be praised for that.

Responding to reporters' questions about what was discussed during his recent visit to Moscow, or whether one of the topics was the Russian loan, the Defence Minister said that the modernization of the Serbian Armed Forces was very important issue, but that the loan was not the only topic.

- We did not speak only about the trade loan. Of course, the loan is very important for the Serbian Armed Forces, especially because of the modernization of SAF, which we have to enter at a faster pace than before. First of all we thanked to them for the help they offered to us during the natural disaster, but we also talked about joint exercises, such as tank biathlon, the airborne exercise, military medical, military educational and military- technical cooperation", the Defence minister said.

He pointed out that, despite the sale of large amounts of resources in 2006 and 2007, the Serbian Armed Forces was ready to respond to all challenges in the recent floods.

- If we had that at our disposal we would probably be capable of responding in a different way and helping other units, as the Serbian Armed Forces had absolutely all the technique that it needed to accomplish all the tasks that were set before it – Gasic said, adding that he has ordered an investigation оf who, when and why these assets were sold.