17.11.2018.
Minister Vulin: Serbian Armed Forces are establishing a sports unit
Minister of Defence Aleksandar Vulin and Chief of General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces Lieutenant General Milan Mojsilović hosted a reception today, which was held in the Small War Room of the Old General Staff for the members of military national teams of the Republic of Serbia in judo and marathon because of the successes which they have achieved at world competitions.
At recently held competition, judo national team of the Ministry of Defence and Serbian Armed Forces won three medals at the 38th world competition in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, which was the first time in the history of the military judo that a medal had been won for Serbia.
Also, the female team of the Ministry of Defence and Serbian Armed Forces won a silver medal at the 50th world military championship in marathon, which took place in Beirut in Lebanon. The competition gathered 15 countries of the world, members of the International Military Sports Council (CISM).Because of the achieved results and success at the world competitions, the minister of defence and chief of General Staff rewarded all the athletes of the military national teams in judo and marathon with free seven-day stay on the Tara mountain.
Minister Vulin congratulated the military athletes on behalf of the Ministry of Defence and Serbian Armed Forces for the achieved successes, effort, resoluteness and discipline, and for what they demonstrated both on and out of the sports ground - that a member of the armed forces is always a professional, athlete, and the one who always fights to be the first, but who is above all a man who loves his armed forces and his country, and makes them proud.
Emphasising the importance of sports in the military, Minister Vulin pointed out that in the Serbian Armed Forces the sports is not only promoted but the sport must be lived.- There was a time when we neglected sports, when we did not think about its importance, and there was a time when we did not realise, or we wanted to forget that we have to invest in extraordinary individuals capable of sacrificing both their time and the time of their families to achieve a result not for themselves but for the Serbian Armed Forces, the institution they belonged to. Yet, you are an example of what we want the Serbian Armed Forces to look like, what we want our members to look like, how we want our members to think - Minister Vulin stressed.
According to him, everyone who has ever in his life practised sports a little bit, knows perfectly well that the will and spirit are stronger than body and that the achieved results are the triumph of will, not the triumph of physical predispositions.
- If physical predispositions were the ones that counted, we would not have competition, and we would just weigh ourselves and say who the winner was going to be. You are the winners because you decided with your will to be the winners. The Serbian Armed Forces will more than before work on systematic organisation of sports in the military. We cannot nor should not rely on our extraordinary, talented, gifted individuals who are ready to sacrifice themselves and who are ready to invest in themselves and the Serbian Armed Forces. That is precious and that will always be rewarded and appreciated, but more than that, we have to reinstate a system in the Serbian Armed Forces that would take care of a talented individual, that would enable him a system, protection and the possibility to fully develop all his capabilities and to fully display all the magnificence of his talent - the minister of defence assessed.
That is precisely why - he announced - there is a plan for the period to come to establish a sports unit where the best will be enabled to do what they do the best.
- That will also enable us to draw to the Serbian Armed Forces the best and the most talented athletes from the sports which are important to us, to attract them to become a part of the Serbian Armed Forces, their members and as such complete their careers. We want them to know that there is somebody who takes care of them, someone who is proud of them and that there is someone willing to use their knowledge and willingness in the years when they are no longer competing actively, and that during their active engagement in sports they can record success after success - Minister Vulin emphasised.
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Speaking about the significance of the achieved results, the Head of delegation of the Republic of Serbia to CISM, Brigadier General Siniša Radović pointed out that the competition at those world military championships had been extremely strong, but that our athletes, by their results achieved both in judo and marathon, had displayed their readiness, art and skills and made us proud.General Radović congratulated the gathered athletes, expressing particular gratitude to Minister Vulin and General Mojsilović, adding that without their active participation, efforts and support for our athletes to participate in great sports competitions worldwide, the achieved results would not have been possible.
- I believe that extraordinary moments are yet to come when it comes to military sport, as well as raising the level of development of sports in the armed forces, since we possess required energy and people, and support rendered to us by sport association and institutions of our country so that we can succeed on our path - General Radović emphasised adding that an exceptional cooperation network had been established in terms of the military sport.
Second Lieutenant Vesna Rakić, who won a bronze medal in the category up to 78 kilograms, speaking on behalf of military judo national team, underlined that great work and effort had been made by all the members of the team, and it had taken great self-denial both on personal and professional plane to achieve such results.
Speaking on behalf of marathon national military team, the captain of the team Nevena Jovanović underscored that the race was very challenging, and that, until then, our athletes had not had an opportunity to become familiar with such a race which made the success of our team even more significant.
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