29.06.2018.
Minister Vulin: Higher investment in military sports
Defence Minister Aleksandar Vulin has received today the awarded members of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces who achieved remarkable success at the 1st Serbian Individual Judo Championship for Military and Police Personnel.
Today's meeting with athletes was also an opportunity for the signing of the Agreement between the Ministry of Defence and the Sports Association of Serbia and the Donation Agreement with the Mozart company, which will be a significant support for the new achievements of military athletes.Minister Vulin pointed out that the President of the Republic of Serbia and Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces, Aleksandar Vučić, gave a very clear order that he wanted a strong, secure and satisfied Armed Forces.
- Apart from acquiring the most modern combat systems, which creates a strong and modern armed forces, the development of sport and providing opportunity for each of our members to develop their potential to the maximum, you also create a satisfied armed forces – Minister Vulin said congratulating military athletes.
The Serbian Armed Forces, Minister Vulin added, enhances its capabilities and strengthens its combat readiness by acquiring the most modern weapons systems by investing in the training and the strength of its army, but above all, the Serbian Armed Forces is developing and strengthening by investing in members of the Serbian Armed Forces.
- We will increase salaries, allow easy access to apartments, solve the economic problems of our members, we will work on helping their families, as well, but we will work also on increasing the scope of training, we will work on significant improvement of fitness level of our members, and by that we will invest more in military sports than before, but also expect more from our members – Minister Vulin said.According to him, staying active in sports is both an obligation and a matter of choice of members of the Serbian Armed Forces, and thanks to the Sports Association and Mozart, we will be able to engage in sports even more than we did before, both at the European and the world level.
- There will be no more championships that we will skip because we did not have enough money, but these problems will be solved, thanks to the contract with the Mozart company, and thanks to the agreement with the Sports Association of Serbia we will become part of this big family and we will be able to compete, but also to find the possibility that the most distinguished athletes, such as Mr. Štefanek, become part of our military representation and represent the Serbian Armed Forces and our country at world championships – Minister Vulin said, adding that the quality of military championships today does not differ from world championships and Olympics.
On behalf of the Ministry of Defence, Brigadier General Siniša Radović, Head of the Delegation of the Republic of Serbia to CISM, and Koviljka Lončar, General Director of the Mozart company, signed the Donation Agreement, and with Davor Štefanek, President of the Sports Association of Serbia, General Radović signed the Cooperation Agreement.
General Radović expressed satisfaction with the support of the Sports Association of Serbia and the Mozart company to the military sport, and today's signing of these documents adds a framework to all these young people, who sacrifice a lot to achieve such results, to get a new type of support.He also pointed out that the participation of military athletes in world military championships has become a practice, not an exception as it was in the previous years, adding that only in the first six months of 2018, more than 300 members of our armed forces participated in 11 sports events and won 34 medals of regional and international character.
Speaking about the significance of the signed agreement, President of the Sports Association of Serbia, Štefanek, pointed out that this is an opportunity to raise the sport in Serbia to a higher level.- We all know that the Serbian Armed Forces has really ready and extraordinary people in its ranks, so the Association has recognized it and we will support it to the maximum. I hope that if we work on it seriously, year after year, one day, at the Olympic Games, we will have somebody from these ranks – Štefanek said.
Borjan Popović, director of corporate communications of Mozart company, pointed out that this company has motto that investment in sports is, in fact, investment in the future. He also reminded that cooperation with the Ministry of Defence started in the field of sports, and expressed the hope that this donation will contribute to the success of military athletes.The team of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces won 18 medals – four gold medals, six silver and eight bronze medals at the 1st Serbian Individual Judo Championship for military and police personnel, in the senior competition, which was held at the Basic Police Training Centre in Sremska Kamenica.
On behalf of the team, team leader Captain Filip Stošić thanked Minister Vulin for continued support to military sports and expressed hope that our judo team will achieve even more significant results.
