02.05.2024.
New Serbian Government elected
A new government was elected today at a special sitting of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia. The former defence minister, Miloš Vučević, was appointed Prime Minister and Bratislav Gašić was appointed the new defence minister.
The President of the Republic and Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces, Aleksandar Vučić, attended the swearing-in of the Prime Minister and new ministers.
At the beginning of the First Special Sitting of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, 14th Legislature, Prime Minister designate Vučević presented the new Government’s program to MPs and named his cabinet members.In his address to MPs, Vučević said that the new government will be a government of continuity, that the state will strive to remain on the path towards progress and development and that foreign policy must be based on political and military neutrality, while full membership in the EU will remain Serbia’s strategic goal. He also said that one of the main priorities of the new government will be to improve and preserve the citizens’ standard of living through economic strengthening, and by reducing unemployment rates and increasing wages and pensions.
In terms of defence and security, the goal of the new government will be to strengthen the defence industry, boost the development of the armed forces and improve the living standards of professional service members, said Vučević.- The pillars of our country's national security are the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces, which over the past, extremely difficult year, demonstrated a high level of readiness and ability to deploy in a short period of time all its defence capabilities to defend the territorial integrity and sovereignty of our country - stressed Vučević.
He added that, owing to large state investments, the Serbian Armed Forces have maintained and considerably improved their operational capability, and the Ministry of Defence has successfully prepared and organized all entities that are important for the defence of the country.- The Ministry of Defence has made a major contribution to the consolidation of the domestic defence industry, which has in turn become one of the engines of growth for the Serbian industry and overall economy. The future government will continue to invest heavily in the Serbian Armed Forces, undertake activities to prepare new strategic documents and plan the development of the defence system, and the new long-term defence system development plan will outline an ambitious but also realistic vision of the Serbian Armed Forces, as an organization highly capable of protecting Serbia’s defence interests and participating in peacebuilding around the world - stressed Vučević.
According to him, a shorter form of mandatory military service of up to four months will be proposed. This, he added, is not preparation for war, but preparation to preserve the country, so that Serbia has generations who know how to defend their country and citizens.- The introduction of mandatory military service is beneficial for the entire country, for the society as a whole and for everyone who will be doing military service in the future, because they will certainly feel better and be the source of pride for their families and homeland. The Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces have prepared proposals for several models of mandatory service with clearly defined positive and negative effects that will be presented to the President of the Republic for consideration and adoption of the appropriate model - said Vučević.
