Visit of the Committee on Defence and Security to units of the Pristina Corps and the Gendarmerie in the municipality of Bujanovac

Members of the Committee visited Vrtogos and Kadrova Cuka army bases, Usi Gendarmerie base and the police check-point in Konculj, in the municipality of Bujanovac. The Deputies were acquainted with the work of the units by Deputy Chief of General Staff of the Army of Serbia and Montenegro, General Vladimir Lazarevic, Deputy Defence Minister, Major General Svetislav Ristic, commanding officer of the Gendarmerie, General Goran Radosavljevic, vice-chairman of the Co-ordinating Body for Southern Serbia, Lieutenant General Ninoslav Krstic, commanding officer of the Pristina Corps, Major General Mladen Cirkovic, and Chief of Vranje Police, Colonel Ljubisav Aleksic.

Members of the Committee were informed of the increase of terrorism in the municipalities of Presevo and Bujanovac and the measures taken by the security forces in preventing the smuggling of weapons, goods, and people. They were also acquainted with living conditions of the members of the Gendarmerie and the Army in the field in this area. Members of the security forces stressed that one of the greatest problems they faced was the lack of modern electronic surveillance equipment for monitoring the crossing of the administrative border.

The chairman of the Committee, Dragan Sutanovac, said that the living and working conditions of members of the security forces in southern Serbia were very bad, stressing that it was essential to provide modern equipment necessary for the control of the administrative border with Kosovo and Metohija and the frontier with Macedonia. He added that, based on what the Deputies had seen during their visit, he was certain that the Army of Serbia and Montenegro and the Gendarmerie were able to stop attacks by Albanian terrorists.

After the visit, a session of the Committee was held, also attended by representatives of the Joint Security Forces and the Co-ordinating Body for Southern Serbia, as well as the president of the municipal assembly of Bujanovac.