29.05.2015.
Final display of the exercise Balkan Response 2015
At training field Ravnjak of the CBRN Center in Krusevac, the final display of the exercise Balkan Response 2015, which was held from 24th May to 30th May, was held. It was attended by Minister of Defence Bratislav Gasic and Chief of General Staff General Ljubisa Dikovic with members of the collegium, representatives of the Ministry of Interior and the Emergency sector, representatives of the diplomatic corps and local self-government. The topic of our most important international civilian-military exercise this year was the rescue action in contamination conditions caused by terrorist mass destruction weapons and accidents. Around 330 participants from the Armed Forces of Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Slovenia, Montenegro and Serbia (Military Medical Academy, CBRN
Center, 246th CBRN Battalion, Information and Liaison Center), in cooperation with members of the Emergency Sector and Special Anti-terrorism Unit of the Ministry of Interior, National Criminal-Technical Center, Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, General Hospital Krusevac and the Red Cross, resolved the realistic situation of a terrorist act.Congratulating the participants on the successfully completed activity, Minister of Defence stressed that the exercise had contributed to the development of regional capacities for defence against such kind of danger. He added that, with the Military Medical Academy that is a national “brand”, the Serbian Armed Forces had acquired another pride worthy institution with which it could present itself to the world.
- Thanks to the Serbian Armed Forces, the local self-government and Krusevac companies, we now have a well-equipped center for training of CBRN staff – Minister Gasic said.Commander of the CBRN Center Lieutenant Colonel Dr. Ivan Lazarevic said that, concerning cooperation, our country had promoted the Center in its Partnership for Peace Programme as a capacity for regional and broader international uses, and that, as such, it had been promoted and gained two statuses, as both the regional and the partnership center for education and training.
Slovenian participant of Balkan Response 2015 Lieutenant Luka Nejc Koncina conveyed his impressions and said that he was very pleased with the experience he would take from our country, especially with the cooperation with SAF members, whose work he described as “highly professional”.
Representatives of Belarus, Brazil, Croatia, Spain, Nigeria, Poland, Hungary, United States European Command and European Defence Agency had the status of observers at the exercise.
For the past few months, intensive preparations were conducted at Ravnjak training field, the venue was arranged, old facilities were renovated and new ones were built, so this important military object would regain its primary purpose, and Krusevac CBRN Center, previously a base national center, became the Regional CBRN Center and an institution of wider importance.
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