02.01.2011.
Minister's interview to Beta news agency
ABOLISHING THE MILITARY DUTY WILL NOT PLACE THE DEFENSE SYSTEM IN DANGER
Serbian Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac said that the abolition of military service obligation and turning the country's armed forces into a fully professional force in any way will not endanger the functioning of the defense.
"In Serbia there are about 1.7 million people who served the military service and who are still willing to, if necessary, to undergo training, wear the uniform and there is no threat to the defense system because we have moved on to a professional army" , the minister said in an interview with BETA.Speaking on the budget of the Ministry of Defence in 2011, he said that 72 billion RSD is a large sum of money in terms of the Government of Serbia and budget as a whole, but it is a relatively small sum compared to the system which needs serious investments.
"Resources are limited, but not because someone does not want to raise them, but because of the difficult economic situation. Our request to increase the defense’s system of the 'budgetary cake' would not be fair to the other ministries," said the minister.
"However, we showed that we are not just a consumer, and for three years we have helped the defense industry to make contracts of $ 1.2 billion USD. We have reduced the trade deficit and rightly expect to return a portion of the defense system," said Serbian Minister of Defence.
According to him, the funds allocated to the defense system fully enable the execution of all tasks of the Serbian Armed Forces, and even enable to make a step towards the modernization of training and purchasing new equipment, and this will be a priority for the SAF Air Force, to purchase new air crafts.
The minister added that 2011 will be a historic year for the army and because it will come with the Military Academy with first women officers, but also the first generation of female pilots in the history of the Serbian Air Force.
Speaking about the plans of the defense industry, he said that in 2011 the attention will be given to the military health care since the Serbia has applied for building a military hospital in Libya modeled on the Military Medical Academy.
Furthermore, Serbia will try along with some countries of the EU and Russia, to compete for a repair job and modernization of Kuwaiti M-84 tanks, made in the late eighties and early nineties produced in the former Yugoslavia.
In the interview Sutanovac said that members of the Serbian Army will continue to participate in peacekeeping missions and that SADF are looking forward to being part of at least of one EU mission, but that the number of members involved at this point can not be assumed as this depends on your needs.
