17.08.2009.
Minister appears on Morning Show on RTS
In his appearance in the Morning Show on RTS, Minister of Defense Dragan Sutanovac talked of the participation of pour officers in international peace missions, engaging officers and civilians in the defense system while stressing that this increased the reputation of Serbia and the Serbian army as this is an important foreign policy interest. Furthermore, he explained that Serbia was making steps towards European integrations, thus also contributing to global security and peace. Minister also spoke of his visit to Iraq, and the activities the system of defense is expecting in the upcoming period. Minister also took this opportunity to announce the air show scheduled for 13 September.
Minister said that our taking part in the peace mission in Chad was a historic step forward as for the first time in Serbia’s history, Serbian parliament has reached a decision upon which members of SAF and MoD are sent to a peace mission in Chad. Till now that was done at the federal level and in a different way, yet this is the first decision verified by the parliament according to the new law, and this is very important, as it was not quite clear so far how it is done.This mission will increase SAF’s repute, as this proves that our country can perceive and accept threats and challenges of the times we live in, since this means that by our participation we can contribute to the world peace. I am very pleased to say that so far all ministers who came to visit our country stressed that they would like to see our soldiers in their contingents in peace missions, and that they were willing to cooperate according to plan. What is even more important is the fact that they had requested our doctors to be deployed in Chad, which bespeaks of enormous respect they have in our army and military doctors. This is of even greater importance considering that it is our wish to promote military health care as a brand, and which, I believe, we have been doing very well for the past two years. Let me remind you that this year we have accepted the first generation of freshmen students who will be educated at MMA, thus wanting to promote and place MMA in the world health market.
Answering the host’s question whether our soldiers had ever participated in missions wearing different symbols, Sutanovac said that that had never happened, adding that currently we have additional three missions with our reps in them. Our flag is next to the Norwegian flag and UN flag. Minister expressed his pleasure at having the first rotation return, remarking that the members in the first rotation had successfully completed their mission, had saved lives of both the members of the international contingent and of the civilians. This mission, as he underlined, has a humanitarian character, as the doctors are obliged to help contingent members and the civilians.
In the second rotation we will have 40 participants which is quite modest give our real potentials, as we consider that we have the potential to involve more men. However, it is important to do this step by step and to gain experience in this, as the inevitable question is when we started, and this is the right moment to do so.
Are our men endangered, as we can remember the recent example when our man engaged by UNHCR got killed. What are their roles in the field.
These are tow completely different situations, as the man working for UNHCR had a special arrangement with UN and this is an activity conducted by the state. Of course they are endangered in some way, working at 50 C, in heat and humidity, with mosquitoes and other insects and animals posing a threat to their lives, on the other hand, as they are part of the Norwegian contingent, I must say that the Norwegian army is very strong and very well organized. We want to learn from our partners, and let me remind you that all men are well aware of the risks they are taking
While further explaining our participation in Chad peace mission, he said that all men were volunteers, and that neither he, or the Parliament or the army could ever force someone to take part in these missions, this is not the case with some armies where once you sign up for the army you are obliged to serve in peace missions, if you are needed. A lot of men are interested in this, and during my talks with the peace mission delegations I stressed the importance of professionalizing the army, as our men will be able to build a house from the money they make during their engagement in the mission.
As for his recent visit to Iraq, Minister reminded that he had signed a cooperation agreement, which is a stepping stone for the future cooperation activities. Our impression is that the Iraqis are interested in cooperation with Serbia, as they still remember the quality of our defense industry products, as well as the quality of the construction works we p[performed all over Iraq. At one point in time, the former Yugoslavia had 60000 workers working in Iraq and believe me we can still tap into the good reputation of our workers there. Iraq plans to invest 70 billion USD in its infrastructure and security, where one or two percents are a great deal for Serbia and if we should land these deals, that would be an excellent opportunity for our construction firms, and the defense industry as well. Our defense industry was completely destroyed in 1999 and this is our chance to revive it, not to mention that Iraq is also interested in the food we produce as they spend fortune on imported foods.
