Defence Ministry

NGOs and think tanks are urging Serbia's Defence Ministry to withdraw new regulations it proposes on research in the country, claiming it would jeopardise most forms of research.

A new report by the think tank Belgrade Centre for Security Policy, BCSP, shows that Serbia's Defence Ministry spent 7.4 million euros from 2013 - earmarked for the modernization of the ancient Super Galeb G-4 fighter jet fleet - on other purposes, because the project has still not got a go-ahead from the government.

The latest blast in Serbia in the military facility at Kragujevac, which killed four persons, raises further questions about Serbia's ability to control its ageing stocks of ammunition, experts say.

Military analyst Aleksandar Radic told BIRN that speculation about the exact causes of the incident in Kragujevac was premature but the human factor was probably to blame.

Women serving in the Turkish army will now have the right to wear Muslim headdress when they are on duty, announced the Defence Ministry.

There is no increased presence of NATO's forces in the Black Sea, stated interim head of defence Vice Admiral Emil Eftimov.

According to Eftimov, the focus right now is on training and exercises.

"We focused on optimising training and exercises conducted in the Black Sea region. We do not perceive an escalation or reinforcement in that presence," stated Eftimov.

The report of the Inspectorate of the Council of Ministers on the public procurement orders of the former cabinet will be published on Monday. Some of the results of the inspections were made public by Prime Minister Ognyan Gerdzhikov on Friday.

Prime Minister Ognyan Gerdzhikov presented on Friday the results of the inspections of the ministries which he ordered at the first meeting of the caretaker cabinet.

The PM ordered the preparation of analytical reports on the state of the ministries with an emphasis on public procurement orders and steps to be taken in order to deal with possible violations.

BELGRADE - The Serbian government has set up a working group headed by Defence Minister Zoran Djordjevic to deal with normalisation of civilian air traffic over the Kosovo and Metohija province, including reintroduction of flights from Belgrade to Pristina, the Defence Ministry announced in a statement.

An inspection of the work of the Defence Ministry has uncovered irregularities in over 100 public procurement orders, announced at a briefing interim Defence Minister Stefan Yanev.

The report on the public procurement orders where violations and bad practices have been discovered has been sent to the Prosecutor's Office.

Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos has ordered the upgrading of the F-16 fighter jets and the procurement of a squadron of 5th generation F-35 stealth aircraft, following the recommendations of the top military brass. Mr. Kammenos also ordered the maintenance of Greece S-300 Russian missile system.