27.08.2020.

Send-off of Serbian Armed Forces Contingent to United Nations Mission in Lebanon

Minister Vulin: Serbian Armed Forces are an ally of peace and everyone who desires peace

Today, Minister of Defence Aleksandar Vulin attended the send-off of Serbian Armed Forces contingent to multinational operation UNIFIL in Lebanon, from the airport “Konstantin the Great” in Niš. In next six months, the contingent of 142 members of the Serbian Armed Forces will be engaged in that peacekeeping mission of the United Nations.

According to Minister Vulin, all soldiers of the Serbian Armed Forces who participate in peacekeeping missions have undergone very demanding training and they were rigorously selected.

- We send the best, because we wish to spread the awareness of the worth and quality of Serbian troops and Serbian Armed Forces wherever we are. In the past, we had to seek help to maintain peace, and today, we are the ones who provide peace to others and who provide stability to others. The Serbian Armed Forces are an ally to peace and everyone who desires peace. All members of the Serbian Armed Forces who are going to the peacekeeping mission in Lebanon are prepared, trained, they know what they will face, and that we take particular attention to them – said Minister Vulin and added that previous contingent had returned later because of corona virus, but “they were all healthy, no one was infected, and they all returned just the way they should – good, healthy, just like they were when they had gone”.

- Each of these soldiers is capable of executing every task, his every responsibility, and they are prepared for that. The good name and praises that we constantly here from all the places where our soldiers are deployed, come to us because they are well trained, prepared soldiers, and because those are good men who understand someone else’s hardship, someone else’s worries, who respect someone else’s religion, someone else’s nationality and culture. That is why they are respected wherever they go, they are appreciated and the people there wish to see them again. Another group of our members departs for Lebanon. May they return to us soon, and may they return well and healthy, just like they have been when they left. That is an order – stated the minister of defence.

Commander of an Infantry Company Platoon Captain Saša Anđelković from the Fourth Army Brigade underwent “difficult and arduous selective training” and he says that while doing it they had to observe protective measures because of COVID-19 outbreak.

- I am motivated to go to this mission and I wish to enrich my experience and represent the Serbian Armed Forces and the state of Serbia honourably and proudly – said Captain Anđelković.

Sergeant Major Siniša Milenković from the Fourth Army Brigade is being engaged in a multinational mission for the first time and there he will perform the duties of a Rifle Squad Commander.
- This represents a crown of my military career, having in mind that I have been in military service for 29 years. I believe that the members of this squad will worthily represent the Serbian Armed Forces – stressed Sergeant Major Milenković and underlined that he enjoyed a great support of his family and friends.

Today’s send-off was attended by Deputy Chief of General Staff Major General Petar Cvetković, Deputy Army Commander Brigadier General Vladeta Baltić and Commander of the Fourth Army Brigade Colonel Novica Petrović.