19.04.2022.
Minister Stefanović: They often cannot forgive us our path of military neutrality
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Nebojša Stefanović, PhD, has presented today the 2021 Awards for the Best Research Paper in the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces. At the award ceremony, held at the Central Military Club, Minister Stefanović said that there was no better way to start the celebration of the Serbian Armed Forces Day than by showing respect to the people who had made a huge contribution to their progress.
This year's Best Research Project Award went to two papers - "Modernization of the 128 mm Oganj Missile Launcher", supervised by Milan Živanović, B.Eng. from the Military Technical Institute, and "Armed Forces in the Political System of Serbia", led by the Commandant of the Military Academy, Colonel Srđan Blagojević, PhD. The Best Doctoral Dissertation Award went to the "Colour and Dynamic Unification of Visual Signals" by Colonel Rade Pavlović, PhD, from the Military Technical Institute.
- They often cannot forgive us our path of military neutrality, a path that implies strengthening our armed forces, strengthening science and strengthening our institutes. But if we did not rely on our own knowledge, on the assets we can conceive and develop ourselves, the question is whether we would be able to procure them all, even if we disregard the fact that it would be much more expensive to import them. Finally, I would like to remind you that in some situations our country could not rely on anyone but itself, which makes your efforts even more significant. You have shown that our country and our armed forces are capable of developing the most demanding things from the scientific spectrum, as far as the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces are concerned - said Stefanović, addressing the award winners.
He also pointed out the importance of the fact that Colonel Srđan Blagojević, engineer Milan Živanović and Lieutenant Colonel Rade Pavlović come from the Military Academy and the Military Technical Institute, two institutions that are actively shaping the future. According to the Minister, the awards given to them are also a message to young people who have decided to pursue a military career and who are enrolling in the Military Academy, that we are thinking about their future and the future of our country.
- These awards are a gesture of gratitude, but believe me, that gratitude is much greater than that. I would like this to be an incentive for other researchers and scientists, for all those people in the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces who will have the chance, in the period to come, to be awarded and to have their names inscribed in the history of our armed forces as the people who have contributed to their being even more efficient and successful. Thank you once again for your great work and I hope that this year we will get the chance to celebrate your scientific victories more often - said Minister Stefanović.
Today's ceremony at the Central Military Club was attended by Assistant Minister for Defence Policy Predrag Bandić, Assistant Minister for Human Resources Katarina Tomašević, Secretary of the Ministry Milica Ćatić, Rector of the Defence University, Lieutenant General Goran Radovanović, Assoc. Prof., Head of the Development and Equipment Department, General Staff, Brigadier General Milan Popović, Head of the Defence Minister’s Office, Colonel Stevan Kotarlić, Head of the Defence Technologies Department, Colonel Slavko Rakić, PhD, Head of the Strategic Planning Department, Colonel Slaven Vujić, Director of the Military Technical Institute Bojan Pavković, PhD, and Director of the Technical Test Centre, Colonel Nenko Brkljač, PhD.