24.02.2015.

Marking the Day of the University of Defence

The ceremony marking the fourth year of the Belgrade University of Defence has been held in the House of Guard in Topcider today.

Among the guests there were Assistant Minister for Human Resources Milos Jankovic, Chief of Serbian Armed Forces General Staff General Ljubisa Dikovic, members of the collegiums of the Defence Minister and the Chief of SAF General Staff, the delegation of the National Defence Academy of the Republic of Austria, foreign military representatives, vice rectors and professors of the University of Defence and representatives of the accredited universities in the Republic of Serbia.

In his address, the Assistant Minister of Defence said that four years ago, when the University of Defence was established, the military education was faced with the challenge of applying the European standards of modern education while preserving the continuity of the decades-long tradition of education of the Serbian officers in the process of harmonization with the higher education system of the Republic of Serbia.

- The University of Defence has based its work on the skilful combination between the traditionally good military organization of work and guaranteed academic freedom. All activities of the University were directed and are focused on creating a professional, highly trained, academically educated and highly motivated officers trained for the execution of missions and tasks of the Serbian Armed Forces. Among other things, the University of Defence is specific in the fact that it educates cadre who cannot be educated in any other place in Serbia, Jankovic said.

Rector of the University of Defence Major General Prof. Mladen Vuruna said that this independent institution of higher education of the Ministry of Defence was established to preserve and provide scientific approach to the development of the military organization, command and planning of operations arising from the missions and tasks of the Serbian Armed Forces.

- Continuous internal and external quality controls successfully conducted based on the main tasks of quality control and assurance, confirmed the high capability of the University of Defence in carrying out the main task – training of personnel for the needs of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces. In 2014, new study programmes were drawn up and submitted for the accreditation, general Vuruna said.

He noted that teaching at the University is conducted in 29 study programmes of four educational-scientific fields and fields of interdisciplinary studies, with 21 of them falling within the scope of responsibility of the Military Academy and eight of the MMA's Medical Faculty.

- In the current year we have the tasks that need to provide quality education of cadre for the needs of the defence system and development of the scientific research activities of the University of Defence, the rector said.

General Vuruna handed plaques of the University of Defence for contribution to the development of military education to the Chief of SAF General Staff General Ljubisa Dikovic and Rector of the state university in Novi Pazar Prof. Miladin Kostic.