18.09.2018.
Minister Vulin: The Serbian Armed Forces follows its supreme commander
Ceremony on presenting the decrees of the President of the Republic of Serbia and the Serbian Armed Forces Chief of General Staff duty handover ceremony was held today in the Great War Hall of the Old General Staff building in Belgrade, in the presence of Defence Minister Aleksandar Vulin.
Following the ceremonial reception of the Minister of Defence and playing the Serbian national anthem, the presidential decrees on the termination of professional military service for General Ljubiša Diković and the appointment of Lieutenant General Milan Mojsilović to the duty of the chief of General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces, were read and presented, as well as decrees on appointments and promotions of the officers of the Serbian Armed Forces.
Minister Vulin congratulated, on behalf of the president of the Republic and the supreme commander of the Serbian Armed Forces, all the promoted and newly appointed officers and officers who are leaving professional military service on their own request.
- The Serbian Armed Forces is gratefully acknowledging the efforts and support of the Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces Aleksandar Vučić, in making it more equipped, safer, to have higher salaries, daily allowances, to get apartments, to provide us with better and more modern assets and, above all, his honest, resolute work for the Serbian Armed Forces to be loved and respected as it deserves. General Mojsilović, like all of us, will follow the policy of the supreme commander, the policy of military neutrality, the preservation of the interests of Serbia and the Serbian people, the policy of protecting the Serbian people no matter where they live, the policy of a strong and powerful Serbia that knows its interests and is ready to fight for them, Minister Vulin said.
As he pointed out, “today we are seeing off a great soldier and welcoming another great soldier”.
- General Diković, a warrior, a commander, a man who thought and loved his army. He is the man who successfully led the Serbian Armed Forces all these years and leaves it in a significantly better condition than what he found. The army has changed, and it was for the better. General Diković was with his country, with all of you, in difficult and the hardest times, and that will continue. The Serbian Armed Forces shows that it appreciates and respects every soldier, so certainly it appreciates and respects its first soldier. That is how a great army is behaving, which the Serbian Armed Forces is, and a great state and great people, which Serbia and the Serbian people are. There were even more difficult times, but there has never been time when we disowned our army and people; time when the Serbian Armed Forces and the state of Serbia disowned those who defended it, fed it, were with it and supported it in difficult times. This state will not give up any of its soldiers, officers, so it will certainly not give up its first soldier and first officer. General Diković spent his life serving his army and his country, serving the idea of the military and the state. It is up to us to continue exactly this way – the Serbian Armed Forces to be stronger, more determined, safer, proud of its past and looking to its future with confidence, the minister of defence said, adding that “every soldier deserves respect, especially the one who led the army all these years”.
According to Minister Vulin, military calling is not a job like any other, but a mission in which a person is permanently and lifelong committed to serving his state as long as he exists, and at whatever status he might be in.
- The soldier is to be born; the soldier is not to become. Today we are welcoming the new chief of General Staff. General Mojsilović was with his country, took part in every difficult day – from a tank leader to a general. That is the way a true soldier is supposed to be and deserves to be, the one who will lead his army. We expect from him, one day when he hands over his badge, to leave his army better than as he found – for it to be better arranged, with better strength, better armed. But the army of high morale, ready to fulfil every task and the army that knows where it is heading and where it started, Minister Vulin said adding that what is ahead of us is “not easier and better times and that the Serbian Armed Forces is to face more challenges, threats, times in which our strength and determination will often be put to the test”.
- The Serbian Armed Forces is the most respected and the most desirable institution in our nation, and it did not become such by a decree or by an order. It became such thanks to the efforts and work of the generations of every soldier of the Serbian Armed Forces. It is because we can look at you as a role model, because we can proudly show and pronounce the name of each and every one of you in front of every citizen of this country, that we can say that the Serbian Army is liked. The Serbian Armed Forces enjoys trust of the state leadership, of its own country, its people, rightly and with merit, Minister Vulin concluded.
After signing the duty handover record, General Diković handed over the badge of the chief of General Staff to General Mojsilović, and then Minister Vulin presented General Diković with the gold plaque of the Ministry of Defence and the badge of the chief of General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces to permanent ownership.
General Mojsilović thanked President Vučić and Minister Vulin for their trust appointing him to the position as the chief of General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces.
- Thinking about my new duty, I am completely aware of the present, the overall complex situation, not only at the global level, but I am aware of the challenges in the region and the risks in Serbia, the responsibilities that the function and the duty of the chief of General Staff entails and I am completely aware of the need to timely continue all the initiated processes in the defence system, especially in terms of equipping, modernisation of the Serbian Armed Forces, which until now have been managed with greater success by the supreme commander, the minister of defence and the former chief of the General Staff. I am particularly encouraged by the fact that the efforts invested by the highest state leadership start giving results and influence the overall strengthening of capabilities of the Serbian Armed Forces, General Mojsilović said and thanked General Diković for everything he did for the Serbian Armed Forces and the state of Serbia.
The former Chief of General Staff, General Diković, also thanked the president of Serbia and the supreme commander of the Serbian Armed Forces, as well as the minister of defence for the previous cooperation, and congratulated all the newly promoted and newly appointed officers and wished them success in their further work.
- Our Serbia, Serbian citizens, be happy that you have such army, and you, soldiers, continue to guard Serbia and its citizens even more vigorously. I am grateful to Minister Vulin for his understanding, support, efforts invested to strengthening our army on a daily basis, thereby strengthening both his and our efforts, because I am sure that our army, for a short period of time, will be significantly better under his leadership and under the command of General Mojsilović, to whom I congratulate on receiving this responsible and honourable duty. I am leaving happy and rich in my soul because I served Serbia. I am always there, for my homeland, for our army, with or without a stick, General Diković said.
