The reception of the President on the occasion of Serbian Armed Forces Day

 

President of the Republic of Serbia and the Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces Aleksandar Vučić hosted a reception on the occasion of the Serbian Armed Forces Day, in the building of the General Secretariat of the President of Serbia, today. It was attended by representatives of the Government, Minister of Defence Aleksandar Vulin, Chief of General Staff General Ljubiša Diković, representatives of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces and former senior military leaders and veterans.

 

Congratulating the holiday to members of the defence system, President Vučić said that this day is an opportunity to show unity in celebrating our holidays, whos dates have been determined in memory of the historic events of Serbia's liberation and defensive wars, which have been important, not always just for our country but also for Europe and the whole world.

 

– It is on the Serbian Armed Forces to be a strong deterrence factor for anyone who might attempt an act of aggression against our territory, our country. The Serbian Armed Forces must be ready, must be trained, and you must know, all of you who work in the Serbian Armed Forces, and who we are proud of because of your professionalism, but also your patriotism, that the state of Serbia allocates six hundred million euros annually for its Armed Forces. It is little in comparison with the armies of big countries, which are true powers in that sense, but for our budget it is not littele money. We will allocate more, but we will also seek results – President Vučić said.

 

According to the President of the Republic, there will have to be more seriousness and responsibility, because the Armed Forces is undoubtedly the best part of our society and the best system throughout our society, and we want to be even better and we are ready to invest even more money thanks to the results that the state of Serbia and the Serbian Government achieved.

 

– I want to ask you to be even more diligent and even more dedicated. Our job is to protect peace and stability, but we have the Armed Forces to help us preserve peace and stability and to be a deterrence factor for all those who want to destroy Serbia. The Armed Forces must always be ready to respond to each of the difficult challenges. We had closed hunting aviation, we had almost closed helicopter units. Our future on this issue is quite different. We will have the most modern equipped soldiers no matter how long we have to wait for the rifles to come to us from outside, no matter how much time we need to run faster our defence industry and no matter how hard we have to work on this issue, because there are many of those who want to stop development, who want us to return to the time of self-management, without allowing the accelerated development of our defence industries and our army as a whole. In this matter, we will continue to work hard, and I want to thank you for always being with your people when it is difficult, when we have floods and any natural disasters, that you are with your people when pressed from outside, when people expect security and stability, but we and our Armed Forces have to be at all times ready for any of these challenges – President Vučić said, adding that in the future will have to work even harder, more powerfully and with even greater commitment than it was the case to date.

 

Addressing members of the Serbian Armed Forces, President Vučić pointed out that serious tasks are ahead of them, and that is to always be prepared to deter the potential aggressor, being aware of everything that has happened in the past.

 

– Serbia always has to be ready, and it is up to Serbian politics to preserve peace, stability, use smart policy to lead the country, and make sure the army is never engaged, but the military has to be ready to respond to every challenge at all times – President Vučić said, adding that he is proud that the members of the defence system have so far safeguarded Serbia's independence and freedom of Serbia as its highest value.

 

President Vučić expressed his gratitude to veterans, men who once led the Serbian Armed Forces and the Yugoslav Armed Forces, who attended today's reception, but who have made a significant mark to preservation and defence of our country, asking them to always help their younger colleagues who now lead the Serbian Armed Forces.