16.08.2014.

Minister Gasic at the closing of the Tank Biathlon

Defence Minister Bratislav Gasic attended the final relay race at the Tank Biathlon on Alabino training ground near Moscow. The Minister, accompanied by Lieutenant General Jovica Draganic, Deputy Head of the General Staff and Major General Ranko Zivak, Air Force and Air Defense Commander, talked with the representatives of our team that had participated in this large international competition.

Congratulating the tank units of the Armed Forces of Serbia on the displayed level of training, Minister Gasic said that he was exceptionally happy for our fourth place in the training assessment part of the competition.

- This is a result that should be measured because no greater result was expected in the sports part of the competition, because the Serbian team is the oldest at the Biathlon. And, also because of several of our members that participated in the competition that spent four days at the hospital due to health issues.

Minister Gasic said that such competitions arte important for establishing our place in relation to other armed forces when it comes to our capabilities and how much we follow international trends. He also stressed that members of our Armed Forces are welcomed guests and cooperation partners with friends across the world.

Gasic said that the Serbian Armed Forces will participate in such competitions in the future as well, and that we cannot expect to win the first place on foreign field, but that we are always prepared to fight and honorably carry our coat of arms and our flag.

Defence Minister of the Russian federation Sergey Shoygu handed over the medal for developing international military cooperation to Captain Ninoslav Djudjic, Commander of the best tank crew of the team of the Serbian Armed Forces. At the closing ceremony, Shoygu complimented all participants of the Tank Biathlon and thanked all the states that had sent their teams to the competition.

At the final race of the Tank Biathlon 2014, the Russian team won the first place, Armenia came in second, and China came in third, while Kazakhstan took the fourth place. In the tank crew competition, the first two places were won by tank crews of the Russian Federation, while the Kazakhstani crew was the third most successful one.