05.03.2024.
Military Intelligence Agency, 140th anniversary of Military Intelligence Service marked
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Miloš Vučević, alongside Chief of the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff Gen. Milan Mojsilović, has attended a ceremony marking the Military Intelligence Agency Day and the 140th anniversary of the establishment of the Military Intelligence Service. The ceremony was held at the Guard House in Topčider today.
To mark the occasion, Director of the Military Intelligence Agency Maj. Gen. Zoran Stojković presented plaques to Minister Vučević and Chief of the General Staff Gen. Mojsilović.Congratulating the Military Intelligence Agency members on the anniversary, Minister Vučević said that 140 years of existence and continuity was a great honour, but also a great responsibility and obligation.
- The fact that your intelligence agency is the only one in the Republic of Serbia puts you in a context that is broader than just a military component, i.e. the Ministry of Defence, and I believe you are aware of that. We have worked together over the past years to strengthen the Military Intelligence Agency, primarily with staff, which is the biggest challenge for all of us, to make sure that you have the best members, people who are motivated to pursue that vocation, because this is not a classic job - emphasized the minister of defence.
He said that he was particularly proud of the fact that new offices had been opened for military attaché on different continents through a joint effort by the President, the Government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.- By doing this, we have shown that Serbia looks after its national interests. I believe that we will continue on this path in the forthcoming period, first of all by exploring venues for our new defence attaché offices, by identifying our state and national interests and determining where our defence industry can be competitive and which host countries might be interesting for us in various aspects - said Minister Vučević.
Speaking about the importance of the work done by the members of the Military Intelligence Agency, the minister of defence said that they were often out of the public eye, but that they were an inseparable and essential part of the defence system.
- Congratulations to all members of the Military Intelligence Agency, including the retired ones, on everything you have done, on the defence of our country. You are the first line of defence, unarmed, but very important in terms of gathering information and doing other activities that are important for our country - said the minister of defence.He also touched upon our state and national interests, as well as our national security, which he considers threatened, primarily due to “separatism in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija, but also due to numerous other activities of other countries that do not respect what they should”.
- And that is the territorial integrity and sovereignty of our country. Things that are universally acknowledged are not acknowledged when it comes to our country. And we are being persuaded that we should agree with it, because before long we will "have a bright future and achieve unprecedented results". It is our obligation to protect the country, to protect our people, particularly our people in Kosovo and Metohija, but also to help our people wherever they may live. The period ahead of us is far from easy, therefore the task of the Military Intelligence Agency will be very challenging, and it will require a lot of sacrifices, the involvement of serious professionals, people who live and work for Serbia and are ready to do whatever it takes to protect our interests - Minister Vučević said.
Minister Vučević expressed his hope that all members of the Military Intelligence Agency will work hard to protect Serbia just as their predecessors have done for the past 140 years. Members of the Military Intelligence Agency must possess the highest degree of patriotism, because what they do is not a job - it is a higher calling to protect and defend their own country, he said.Director of the Military Intelligence Agency Maj. Gen. Zoran Stojković said that on March 5, 1884, famous Radomir Putnik became the head of the Serbian military intelligence service.
- There is a lot of symbolism in the fact that the man who later became chief of staff of the Supreme Command, chief of the General Staff, war minister and an unparalleled warrior was the first head of the intelligence service in the Serbian army. We are very proud of that generation of our ancestors, who, driven by patriotism and love for the motherland, left an indelible mark in history and made the greatest sacrifice for the freedom of Serbia - said the director of the Military Intelligence Agency, adding that the subsequent generations of intelligence officers also left their mark in history.
According to him, conflicts that are taking place around the world, cyberattacks, migrations, acts of extremist and terrorism are also modern security treats that we all face every day.- Serbia, which is a small, but for us the biggest country, feels the consequences of clashes between great powers and the effects of all the events taking place in our immediate and more distant environments. By exploiting our full potential, we have striven to provide timely and accurate information and assessments to help our state and military leaderships manage our homeland in these turbulent and difficult to predict times in a successful manner - said Major General Stojković, adding that patriotism is best proven in difficult times, because for a Serbian intelligence officer, love for the homeland and vocation comes first.
At today's ceremony, plaques were awarded to First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dačić, Minister of the Interior Bratislav Gašić, on whose behalf State Secretary Danilo Stevandić accepted the plaque, and to the Military Security Agency, on whose behalf Colonel Žarko Nešić accepted the plaque. Plaques were also awarded to acting Director of the Security Information Agency Tomislav Radovanović, on whose behalf Bojan Jocić accepted the plaque, as well as to Aleksandar Vulin.The ceremony was attended by government ministers, MPs, members of the boards of the Minister of Defence and the Chief of the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff, representatives of religious communities, the military diplomatic corps, institutions and numerous guests.
Members of the Military Intelligence Agency celebrated the Agency Day with a ceremony attended by active and retired agency members, who were also awarded plaques. The Military Intelligence Agency delegation, led by Deputy Director of the Agency Col. Dejan Pajić, laid a wreath on the grave of Field Marshal Radomir Putnik, the first head of the service, whose tradition is now followed by the Military Intelligence Agency.