Press conference of the Army commander

Today in the Command of the Army in Nis press conference was held by the Army Commander Major General Milan Mojsilovic regarding the participation of the Serbian Army in relieving the consequences of natural disasters caused by heavy snowfall. Mojsilovi? General recalled that the decision by Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac and Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Ljubisa Dikovic Serbian Army over a month engaged in providing assistance to vulnerable populations.

"Deployment of the Army of Serbia began on 8 Janyary 2012 - said general Mojsilovic- by being engaged in Sjenica, Nova Varos, Prijepolje and Kraljevo where five engineering working groups and 12 machines were employed. As the weather worsened, the situation and heavy snowfall and snowdrifts threatened the normal life of citizens, and in several municipalities in the Republic of Serbia emergency situation was declared which led to further involvement of the Serbian Army in Mali Zvornik municipality, Ljubovija, Koceljevo, Priboj, Blace, Kursumlija , Novi Pazar, Raska, Kraljevo, Valjevo, Sabac, Novi Sad, Belgrade, Nis, Aleksinac, Bela Palanka, Babusnica, Bosilegrad, Svrljig, Sremska Mitrovica, Pancevo, Rovinj, Medvedja, Trgovishte and Razanj. According to General Mojsilovic a total of 88 engineering machines in more than 25 municipalities in Serbia have been employed.

- The last ten days, than two thousand soldiers and officers of the Serbian Army have been engaged on daily basis in clearing the public institutions in Serbia, primarily city hospitals, health centers, kindergartens, state and public institutions. So far 1,700 kilometers of highways, regional and unclassified roads in 35 municipalities, said General Mojsilovic adding that when weather conditions permitted, SAF started delivering food supplies by air to the most vulnerable population and air, especially on the mountain Cemerno , in the municipality of Kraljevo. General Mojsilovic emphasized the assistance of the Army in the residential home for persons with special needs in the village of Kulin, in the municipality of Aleksinac.

The commander of the Army reminded that the current activities were lot all small heroic deeds, such as the evacuation of citizens from affected villages in the municipality of Kraljevo and Raska, of pregnant women from Pester and Kocic Bratislava from the village of Ostrozub in Crna trava , since all contact had been lost with him in the previous month contact, because his house was trapped in snow.

"Search and rescue teams of the Special Brigade, after finding their way through a five-hour high snowdrifts managed to locate and evacuate Branislav Kocic- Mojsilovic said. Speaking about the operation, General pointed out that the teams covered kilometers in five hours, noting that these were specially equipped and trained teams who are used to working in difficult and complex conditions.

- Unfortunately, problems with snowfalls are present in almost all municipalities. Serbian Army is trying to comply with the requirements and decisions of the Republican staff of the emergency and to provide assistance to everyone. We are constantly receiving requests for help and support and as long as the emergency state is in force, we will stand by our people. We have strengthened the working groups even further by engaging military vehicles of high mobility for the purpose of facilitating distribution and supply of food in snowed areas, as general Mojsilovic stated.

Responding to a reporter's question about the most afflicted areas, Major General Milan Mojsilovic answered:

"In the last ten days I have visited almost all the municipalities affected by this natural disaster and have monitored the work of the Serbian Armed Forces engaged in the field so I really find it hard to single out any municipality as the most endangered. If you apply the criterion of the amount of snow and the danger the snow poses, I would say that Nova Varos, Prijepolje and Priboj are really affected. Of course, the affected municipalities also include Crna trava, Surdulica, Bosilegrad and municipalities gravitating toward Nis district. "

General Mojsilovic emphasized that any action of the Serbian Army is especially dangerous per se, requiring certain skillfulness and readiness of men and precise coordination. In this regard, he singled out the case of military doctors who evacuated pregnant women from the Pester Highlands and the Special Brigade action team which rescued an inhabitant from the snow trapped village of Ostrozub.