Gasic: Conditions in place for 75-day compulsory military service

BELGRADE- Serbian Defence Minister Bratislav Gasic said on Tuesday the conditions were in place for introducing 75-day compulsory military service and that a decision on whether that would happen in December this year or March next year depended on global developments.

In an appearance on K1 TV, Gasic said training at army barracks would last 60 days and that field training would account for the remaining 15 days.

He said that, in spite of criticism that the reinstated compulsory military service would be too short, future soldiers would be able to learn many useful things.

"They will certainly be able to learn many things that they will find useful later in life," Gasic said.

He added that, once they completed the service, the recruits would be called up to exercises in the years to come to complement their knowledge.

Gasic said investments in equipment, infrastructure and logistics had made it possible to reinstate compulsory military service.

Speaking about critical infrastructure facilities secured by the Serbian Armed Forces due to the current global situation, Gasic said the army was securing a large natural gas storage facility in Banatski dvor.

"The army is doing it with great commitment. The 72nd special brigade is deployed there, alongside anti-aircraft defence units. Around the world, critical infrastructure is under threat, oil and gas reserves are under threat everywhere. In the past ten days, such facilities have been targeted the most in Iran and the Middle East," he said, adding that the army would also safeguard other important facilities in Serbia.

Gasic: Serbian Armed Forces ready to respond to all challenges, neutrality only right path

BELGRADE - Serbian Defence Minister Bratislav Gasic said on Tuesday the Serbian Armed Forces were ready to respond to all challenges and noted that Serbia was acquiring leading-edge arms to protect its territorial integrity and sovereignty and the security of its citizens, rather than to threaten anyone in the region or the wider neigbourhood.

In an appearance on K1 TV, Gasic noted that Serbia was committed to the principle of military neutrality, and added that that position was the only right path for the country, "so that we can have friends in the East and in the West."

"The development of the Serbian Armed Forces is deeply tied to all the friendships we have built with China, the US, Russia and many countries in the EU, enabling us to have joint military exercises with all of them today as a military-neutral country and purchase arms and military equipment everywhere, because we have friendships that have been built. Today, we have the privilege of being able to make acquisitions for the army wherever and whenever we want. Of course, it is not an easy process," he said.

Commenting on the 27th anniversary of the 1999 NATO aggression, Gasic said that traces of the attack on Serbia were still visible, especially when it comes to Serbian Armed Forces systems and infrastructure.

He said that, between 2000 and 2012, absolutely no work had been done on buildings damaged and destroyed in the aggression as the governments in the period had wanted to "steer as far away from those problems as possible."

"In the past 12 years, the capabilities have been improved significantly through planned activities and investments," Gasic noted.