Minister Vulin: The Serbs are Friends to all Who Desire Peace, Servants To No One

– The state of Serbia, its armed forces and its people know to be and they are friends to everyone who truly desires peace, but they are not servants anywhere and to anyone, and they know better than many the true value of peace. It is precisely why they know what it takes to preserve the peace – said the envoy of the President of the Republic of Serbia and Minister of Defence Aleksandar Vulin at today’s ceremony to mark the end of professional advancement of the 61st Class of General Staff Course of the National Defence School and of the 7th Class of the Advanced Defence and Security Studies, at which he presented officers’ sabres to three best ranking officers of the 61st Class and badges to the attenders of the ADSS.

 

We have hard times ahead of us “which do not make us afraid, but they make us worried” stated the minister of defence.

 

– We are not afraid when not convicted war criminals call for new wars, but we are worried to see the whole world silently listening to the not convicted war criminals who threaten with new fires of war. We are not afraid, because the Serbian soldier and Serbian Armed Forces and the state have never feared anyone, not having the right to disgrace the heroes of the past, but we are worried to see the world that does not understand that the peace will be preserved only if everyone desires it equally. The Serbian Armed Forces of the military neutral state are ready to preserve the peace, believing that the value of the peace is paramount and that the peace can be solely compared to freedom as the highest human value. Without freedom there is no nation worthy of existing, lasting, repeating, remembering. The state of Serbia and everybody in it will do all so that not only Serbia, but the entire its region are always peaceful, secure and stable, but they will also strengthen their armed forces and defence capabilities to make everybody understand and be sure that threatening our security is not a wise or smart move.

 

– There is no peace without strong and powerful armed forces, without strong and organised security structure, and there is no peace without armed forces and state capable of taking care of each part of its territorial integrity, reliable and confident that it will uphold the Constitution, and law and basic human freedom. The state of Serbia, its people, and its armed forces exist because of our rights won in the cruel wars, which we did not wish or asked for, and these are the right to autonomously make our own decisions and the right to liberty – Minister Vulin said.

 

According to him, Serbia chose the path of military neutrality by decision of the President of the Republic of Serbia and Supreme Commander, by decision of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, by decision of the entire nation and every citizen of our country. It is not the road of weak ones, but the path of the brave.

 

– Serbia is military neutral because it is strong, because it believes in itself, because it knows that it has always been alone in numerous difficult and extremely difficult moments that happened and will happen in our history. In those difficult moments and when it is the hardest, Serbia relies on itself and its people and its people are always with their armed forces. That is how it used to be and how it will be. The glorious forefathers of the generals and officers who are sitting here today, and of all those who make sure that Serbia is safe, secure and peaceful, may proudly look upon the children who succeeded them. The Serbian Armed Forces, unafraid, steadfast, growing stronger each day, more trained, better equipped, is an armed force that guarantees the military neutrality of Serbia, peace and security of Serbia, and the right of Serbian people to exist and live wherever they exist and live. That is why we are here today – Minister Vulin said.

 

The minister of defence also stressed that he was honoured to be standing in front of the attenders of the high studies on behalf of the Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces and President of the Republic of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić, on behalf of the people and citizens of Serbia and on behalf of the members of the armed forces.

 

– I congratulate you on your results, on successfully completed high studies, and most of all I congratulate you on your life which you have dedicated to this country and these armed forces. Our country can say today that it has a new class of government workers who better and clearly understand the security and who are ready to continue serving it, and our armed forces may be assured and certain that new and highest superior officers are worthy of those who used to be here before them and to be remembered by the future – Minister Vulin stated.

 

At today’s ceremony, Chief of General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces General Ljubiša Diković presented the officers’ sabres to other officers who completed that career professional advancement.

 

The Advanced Security and Defence Studies were completed by 13 attenders among whom four came from abroad, while the General Staff Course was completed by 27 officers from the country and abroad.

 

The best results in the 61st Class were achieved by Lieutenant Colonels Saša Petrović with average grade 9.80, Darko Glišić with average grade 9.60 and Dejan Bačević with average grade 9.40, while the entire class excelled with average grade 8.57.

 

The ceremony held in the House of the National Assembly was attended by the members of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, ministers of the Government of Serbia, members of the boards of the minister of defence and Chief of General Staff, representatives of public political life, religious communities and academic community, Defence Attachés in the Republic of Serbia and the families and friends of the attenders.

 

Speaking about the impressions and importance of the General Staff Course, the first ranking officer of the 61st Class, Lieutenant Colonel Saša Petrović, pointed out that it was an excellent opportunity to confirm the previously gained knowledge and to learn many new things which are extremely useful for discharging new duties.

– Being first ranking officer is pleasing to everyone and to me as well. But I have to stress that there were many experienced and good colleagues, and the chance had it and a bit of persistence contributed to me being the first in the class – Lieutenant Petrović underlined.

 

According to an attender of the 7th Class of ADSS Nedeljko Kopuz, Commander of the 3rd Infantry Regiment (the Republic of Srpska) of the Armed Forces of B&H, that level of advancement is an opportunity for gaining new knowledge, exchanging experiences and for highly informative travels.

 

– It is a wonderful experience primarily because of the lectures and attenders who come from different spheres of life bringing their experiences, which we have all shared together, and I believe that it is one of the greatest benefits of this course – Brigadier Kopuz stressed.