Vučić marking the Day of Security Information Agency: BIA - a pillar of state defense

Vučić marking the Day of Security Information Agency: BIA - a pillar of state defense

Answering the questions of the journalists, Vučić referred to the events in Kosovo and Metohija.

President said that he would never be able to say that it was wonderful that Srecko Sofronijevic was wounded.

"It was enough for me to tell people, 'Read your statements,' I said we want the best relationship with the UK, which is true, with Great Britain, because they are a great power, but read that statement from Pristina. You can't say anything else about that except 'don't insult our intelligence.' Let's leave aside the fact that you have no right to invade the north of Kosovo, you know what we agreed on in Brussels, don't do that."

"You expect us to say: 'It's wonderful that you shot Srećko Sofronijević', I can't and won't say that. What would have happened if Sofornijević had died?", Vucic said.

On the vaccines

"Moderna will arrive in Serbia in November," Vucic said.

He emphasized that the immunization with the Russian vaccine produced in Torlak in Serbia will start soon.

"We have a million and a half doses at the moment," says Vučić and revealed that he will soon be vaccinated with a booster dose, that is, that he will receive the third dose of the Chinese vaccine. The ceremony started shortly after 11 o'clock.

Vučić and BIA director Bratislav Gašić laid a wreath in front of the memorial wall in memory of the fallen members of the Agency. "BIA is a pillar of defense against terrorism, foreign services, BIA is the service that gives you security, independence, autonomy, without its successful work, nothing would happen," said Vucic.

Vučić said that BIA can respond to the challenges of modern society.

"Wonderful people in BIA have dedicated their lives to the security of this country, the fight against terrorism as well as higher, national interests, which are always on duty, they work 24 hours a day and seven days a week."

Vučić especially thanked all those who took risks in the previous period. "Some people risked their own lives, but they knew what they were fighting for, for the security of the state," the president emphasized. "Thank you also for preserving our traditional values, for understanding what Serbia had to go through."

"Our job is to have even greater capacity, to find people who are loyal to Serbia and who will continue where you left off. Please rely on young people, on young staff, I saw a lot of them today and I am especially satisfied that I saw that people are very happy because after 20 years we have renewed almost everything and made BIA the strongest in its history". During the visit, President visited BIA laboratories and the Operational Center of the Belgrade BIA Center.

By the way, in Serbia, civilian security and intelligence affairs were for the first time institutionally organized by the Law on Amendments and Changes to the Organization of the Central State Administration from 1899. By that law, the Department for Confidential Police Affairs was established within the Ministry of Internal Affairs, with the task of "taking care of maintaining the internal state order and general land security".

The scope of work of that department included intelligence and counter-intelligence affairs, suppression of anti-state propaganda and banditry, opposition to terrorism and corruption. Jovan S. Milovanović, the founder of Serbian shorthand, was appointed the first chief. The Department for Confidential Police Affairs is organized on the model of the secret police of France and Austro-Hungary, and the law stipulates that the Department, in addition to the chief, has a secretary and junior officers, as well as a separate archive in which "under special supervision and care of the chief", they kept all acts of a confidential nature".

By the decree of King Aleksandar Obrenović, the affairs of the Department for Confidential Police Affairs in 1900 passed into the competence of the Police Department at the Ministry of the Interior. Recognizing the importance of the first legal regulation of civilian security and intelligence affairs in Serbia, the Security and Information Agency marks October 17 as its day.

Today's BIA was formed by the Law on the Security Information Agency, which entered into force on July 27, 2002. The BIA is a civilian, national security service and is part of Serbia's unified security and intelligence system.

The main tasks of BIA are to protect the security of Serbia, to detect and prevent activities aimed at undermining or destroying the order established by the Constitution, to research, collect, process and assess security intelligence and knowledge relevant to the country's security and to inform the competent state authorities performing other tasks determined by the Law.