21.06.2014.

"Tasks of Contemporary Armed Forces in Multinational Operations" Seminar

The Atlantic Council of Serbia organized a 2-day seminar in Kovacica, titled “Tasks of Contemporary Armed Forces in Multinational Operations”. Participants of the seminar were officials of the USA and French embassies, OSCE, NATO and the Armed Forces of Serbia. The gathering was also an opportunity for media representatives from Serbia and the region to learn about trending worldwide security challenges that demand a joint peacekeeping response.

On the first day of the seminar, USA Embassy official Grant Morrow talked about security organizations and global security, and Serbia’s role in security structures and peacekeeping operations.

Brigadier General Batta, Head of the NATO Military Liaison Office in Belgrade, presented the upcoming tasks with the emphasis on further development of relations between Serbia and NATO and assisting Serbia on its path of integrations in projects of international security.

Alvaro Ballesteros, OSCE official in Kosovo, during his speech on regional contribution in peacekeeping since Yugoslavia until today, stressed that the people of this region can be proud of its earlier contribution to global security, and that it is a joyful fact that, in the last few years, Serbia has once again been on the good way of becoming a stability factor and, especially by participating in peacekeeping missions, a “security exporter” and a trustworthy partner.

Colonel Metodi Hadzi-Janev talked about experiences of the Macedonian Army during its anti-terrorist and anti-rebellion operations in Iraq; through a unique study of the case, he presented deployment of Serbian southern neighbors on contributing to establishing peace in Iraq.

Today’s ending day of the seminar was opened by Colonel Sasa Stefanovic, Assistant Commander for Planning and Support of the Joint Operations Command of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Serbia, who talked about tasks of the contemporary armed forces in the fight against terrorism based on the example of the Republic of Serbia. Actualizing the term of irregular warship and asymmetric armed combats where one side is inferior due to lower level of technological development, Stefanovic pointed out that global terrorism is a threat to every part of the planet, especially in the context of different capacities that states possess to handle it.

In his speech about the development of the Training Center for Multinational Operations at the “Jug” military base, Lieutenant Colonel Vladan Milosavljevic highlighted the base as a stability guarantee in south Serbia. While mentioning realized and current projects, Lieutenant Colonel Milosavljevic announced that, from June 30 to July 12, “Platinasti Vuk” exercise will be held at the “Jug” military base. The exercise will consist of eight different activities, with participation of American Marines and members of the Armed Forces of Serbia, Croatia, Romania and Azerbaijan.

Lieutenant Colonel Oliver Rhonnet, French military official, talked about French experience from Mission in Mali that started a year and a half ago. He pointed out that, today, Mali has a well-rounded territorial integrity, the terrorist issue is mostly resolved, and, apart from separate incidents, a process of discussion between the north and the south of the country has been initiated.

Colonel Petar Boskovic, Head of the Public Relations Department, stated the most significant facts on crisis communication in informing the public, one of the most important segments of PR. He particularly stressed organizational and other changes in the field that have occurred in the Armed Forces of Serbia since the events in Topcider in 2004, that have significantly improved public relations of the Ministry of Defence, “that make the Armed Forces of Serbia one of the most trusted institutions in the eyes of citizens of Serbia”.

- When it comes to social networks – Facebook, Twitter and Youtube, although we were the pioneers in the field, we bravely set the course, since the foundation of these unique new media is not informative in its nature, but dominantly consisting of exchange and interactivity, and we follow the trend, learn to watch and listen, because that is exactly where we will hear the first reactions – Boskovic said, announcing a personnel model in the Department that would give emphasis to web journalism, including web television and social networks.

Colonel Milivoje Pajovic, Head of the Peacekeeping Operations Center, presented the role and tasks of this formation, and talked about deployment of members of the Armed Forces of Serbia in multinational operations. A special dimension was given to his speech by live reports of Serbian members of peacekeeping operations from several locations that detailed on their missions and gave their personal impressions from the field. Colonel Pajovic presented trending academic and operational modules and made a summary of deployment of our members in peacekeeping operations. He pointed out that women are also present in multinational operations, and that, for future members of peacekeeping operations, aside from professional training, other types of training are necessary, and he announced enhanced engagement of members of the SAF in peacekeeping missions, including three physicians that are to be sent to Mali soon.

The professional gathering ended with the speech by Dane Subosic, PhD, on non-lethal weaponry and its use in peacekeeping operations.

The Kovacica Seminar is a project of the Atlantic Council of Serbia and it represents a continuation of the program for the media initiated three years ago that has been attended by journalists from numerous redactions in Serbia and the region. Before arriving to Kovacica, the media representatives had the organized visit to the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit of the Ministry of the Interior, at the “13. maj” military base in Batajnica.