Minister of Defence and Chief of the General Staff visited the Special Brigade on Kopaonik

Minister of Defence Bratislav Gasic and Chief of the General Staff of Serbia General Ljubisa Dikovic with associates visited members of the Special Brigade that are on Kopaonik, conducting a part of combat training in winter conditions for seven days.

At four work points, members of anti-terrorist and scouting battalion of the Special Brigade displayed tactical procedures and steps of the Search and Rescue Service in rescuing a camper lost in a snow storm, forming ambush of the scouting division and catching infiltrated armed groups, stopping vehicles and subduing terrorists. Lastly, there was a display of winter shelter objects, including an igloo and a bear cavern.



– Members of the Special Brigade have shown a segment of training in winter conditions, which is finding and rescuing campers lost in a snow storm, interception and subduing of unfamiliar armed patrols on the terrain they control, steps of scouting patrols and ambushes, stopping vehicles and subduing terrorist groups and construction of winter shelters, such as igloos, bear caverns and shelters under conifers. This objects are suitable for survival for several days, in spite of cruel winter conditions and snow-covered mountains, where one can easily get lost or die due to hypothermia – Special Brigade Commander Colonel Zoran Velickovic said.



Assessing the displayed exercise of the members of the Special Brigade as very successful, Minister of Defence Bratislav Gasic conveyed his pride because of the high level of training of SAF members.



– Last summer, we saw the training of the Special Brigade in completely different conditions. Now, we saw how training in winter conditions is conducted, on Kopaonik, Serbian snow queen covered in snow. I am very proud that the training of SAF units is at such a high level. Here, we have once more been assured that the Armed Forces of Serbia possess modern arms and are capable of responding to all security challenges and tasks that they might face – Minister Gasic said.

While answering the questions about recent statements of Ombudsman Sasa Jankovic, Minister Bratislav Gasic said that he does not expect for Jankovic to apologize to the citizens of Serbia, but that he does expect for national institutions to react in the right way.



– The only thing I expect from the prosecutor’s office and the court, after the investigation is over, is to show all the unscrupulousness and lies stated in the past period. The citizens of Serbia can rest assured, because the Ministry of Defence, the Armed Forces of Serbia and the Military Security Agency do everything in accordance with the Law – Minister Gasic said.

Analyzing the exercise, Chief of the General Staff of Serbia General Ljubisa Dikovic said that members of the Special Brigade are trained for action in all land and weather conditions, in any time of the year, on land and in air.



– They have shown this many times in various circumstances. This is the unit that stands equal to all similar units of the same purpose and kind in the world with its capabilities, level of training and equipment. They have shown this during this exercise, and during execution of several important tasks in the past period. We saw them in exercises realized in the past year, in quick-response, surprise actions. and all those conditions uncharacteristic for other units – General Dikovic said.