12.10.2017.
Minister Vulin: We have envisaged a special sector for civil defence
Today, at the Central Military Club, Minister of Defence Aleksandar Vulin has attended a roundtable on the topic "Training Citizens for the Defence of the Country", which is part of an effort to initiate a wide public debate through dialogue on the need of educating citizens for the defence of the country and organised action in a state of emergency and war.
On that occasion, Minister Vulin emphasized that the defence of each country consists of civil defence and military, and that the defence of each country is based on the training and organization of the whole population, but that Serbia has stopped doing this for a long time taking its chance.
- The Ministry of Defence will not allow such a policy to continue. That is why, in the new organizational structure of the Ministry of Defence, we have envisaged a special sector for civil defence, something that was abolished back in 2006 and something that was abolished essentially without a reason, the Minister of Defence said, stressing that the whole population must be aware of their responsibility, must be aware of their obligations, but must be given the appropriate knowledge in order to be able to protect and safeguard their country, to protect the independence and sovereignty of their country.
- We are always preparing for the worst, we are always preparing for war. This is the job and task and the reason for the existence of any army. But every citizen needs to know what to do in case of a natural disaster, how to protect themselves, how to protect their family, and how to help those who need help. Therefore, the Ministry of Defence, together with the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Local Self-Government and the Ministry of Health, with the Red Cross, are looking for concrete ways and specific mechanisms to enable the entire population to be involved in the defence of their country, and of their lives, to be safe and able to respond to any challenge regardless of where it came from and why. There were times when we were able to do it and when we were preparing for what was hard. There is no reason not to do it again, there is no reason not to take care of both ourselves and our country, the defence minister concluded.
Representatives of the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, the Ministry of the Interior's Emergency Situations Department and the Red Cross spoke on the importance of training citizens for defence of the country at the round table.
