At its tenth sitting held on 3 December, the Committee on Security and Defence discussed in principle the bills on Defence, the Serbian Armed Forces and the basic organisation of security services of the Republic of Serbia.

The sitting was chaired by the Committee Chairman, Ivica Dacic, and attended by the authorised representatives of the submitters, the Minister of Defence, Dragan Sutanovac and associates and the Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, Milan Markovic.

The Minister of Defence, Dragan Sutanovac, briefed the Committee members on the bills on Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces. He pointed out that by adopting the Bill on Defence the Republic of Serbia receives an institutional framework for the regulation of the defence system. This law includes the continuation of the defence system reform, defines the basics of strategic-doctrinary documents, regulates the authority of organs within the defence system, regulates the obligations of the professional members of the Serbian Army and international cooperation within the defence system.

The Bill on the Serbian Armed Forces, among other things, establishes civilian control over the Army and continues the already begun army reform.

The Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, Milan Markovic, presented to the Committee members The Bill on the basic organisation of security services of the Republic of Serbia. He emphasised that the Bill creates preconditions for a better and more efficient work of the services, better security system and raises the civilian control over security services to a higher level. The Bill establishes the existence of three security services: Military Intelligence, Military Security and Security Intelligence Agency and two new bodies of the National Defence Council and Coordination Bureau.

The Committee on Security and Defence accepted, in principle, the bills on Defence, the Serbian Armed Forces and the basic organisation of security services of the Republic of Serbia and proposed that the National Assembly adopt them.