18.02.2022.
670 candidates already applied for voluntary military service
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, Nebojša Stefanović, PhD, met with the heads of the Ministry of Defence Regional Centres in Novi Sad today. They discussed the centres’ work and tasks in the forthcoming period. Minister Stefanović said that this year's turnout for voluntary military service (Class of March) is the highest in the last five years, as 670 candidates have already applied, and we have 112 candidates for the Reserve Officers Course, which shows that more and more young people are opting for serving their country.
- Today, I’ve had the opportunity to talk to the heads of the Ministry of Defence Regional Centres, together with my assistant Katarina Tomašević and my Head of Office, Colonel Stevan Kotarlić. We talked to all the key people responsible for recruitment, but also for inviting young people to apply for voluntary military service. That was just one of the topics, but I must say that this year we have the highest turnout for voluntary military service in the last five years, namely 670 candidates have already applied, as well as 112 candidates for the Reserve Officers Course, which is really encouraging and it shows that more and more young people are deciding to join and serve their country - said Minister Stefanović.According to Minister Stefanović, more than 80 percent of those people decide to pursue their careers as professional soldiers after completing voluntary military service.
- I am glad that we have simplified all the procedures and helped them join the armed forces as professional service members as quickly as possible. The increased monthly pay of 38,000 dinars for all soldiers performing voluntary military service and participants in the Reserve Officers Course, improved conditions, new uniforms, new combat equipment, and the opportunity to gain experience and knowledge that they can use not only as professional soldiers in the armed forces, but also if they decide to pursue careers elsewhere, are important motives for young people to apply for military service - said Minister Stefanović.
He praised his colleagues in the regional centres for working hard even in the years when the situation was not that easy.- I hope that together we will manage to get more people to join the military and improve the quality of everything that the Ministry of Defence and the armed forces offer - said Minister Stefanović.
During today's meeting, the Head of the Defence Obligations Department, Colonel Dragan Kotarlić, informed the Minister of Defence about the tasks within the competence of that department, such as military, labour and material obligations and the degree of their completion, but also about mobilization, voluntary military service and citizens’ training.
Head of the MoD Novi Sad Regional Centre, Colonel Miodrag Nadlački, spoke about the scope of work of the centre, highlighting the activities related to voluntary military service and promotion of military profession that have marked the past period.The meeting in Novi Sad was also attended by the heads of Ministry of Defence regional centres in Niš - Colonel Nenad Marković, Kragujevac - Colonel Igor Avdić, Valjevo - Colonel Zoran Smiljanić and Belgrade - Lieutenant Colonel Ljubiša Igić.
The MoD Novi Sad Regional Centre, as a territorial body of the Ministry of Defence, performs activities that fall within the scope of the Ministry of Defence for the territory of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina and is responsible for civil defence, preparations for defence planning and military, labour and material obligations fulfilment.
