Presenting the information, Minister of Defence Aleksandar Vulin said that drafting strategic documents was the Ministry’s priority in the reporting period and the special working group for the drafting of the National Security Strategy, Defence Strategy and the White Paper on Defence has had four meetings. Aleksandar Vulin said that the Ministry had also drafted the long-term defence system development plan.
He also briefed the Committee members on the drafting process of laws and by-laws in the Ministry’s purview.

Minister Vulin then spoke about the Ministry’s activities concerning Serbia’s EU accession, in NATO’s Partnership for Peace and on the conduct of the National Action Plan for the implementation of the UN Security Council resolution 1325 - Women, Peace and Security in the Republic of Serbia.

He also informed the Committee members about the realized international cooperation, signed international treaties, and the defence forces’ involvement in international peace missions.

Vulin stressed that the Ministry’s most pressing defence concern is monitoring the situation in the north of Kosovo-Metohija and the south of Serbia.

In the course of the discussion the Committee members asked additional questions about the number of employees in the Ministry, its budget structure and execution and the measures employed to boost the numbers of voluntary military service applicants. They also spoke about the procurement of military equipment, the armed forces’ operative readiness and the importance of drafting strategic documents.

Following the discussion the Committee accepted the activity information of the Ministry of Defence for the periods October – December 2016, January - March and April - June 2017.

The sitting was chaired by Committee Chairperson Marija Obradovic, and was attended by the following Committee members and deputy members: Momcilo Mandic, Stefana Miladinovic, Marko Djurisic, MA Ivan Kostic, Bozidar Delic, Vladimir Djukanovic, Aleksandar Markovic, Ivana Stojiljkovic, Borisav Kovacevic, Prof. Dr Zoran Dragisic, Vladan Zagradjanin and Nenad Bozic.