Balkan soldiers included in 50-country military exercise

Balkan soldiers included in 50-country military exercise

By participating in military exercise Viking 14, the Serbian army contributes to global peace, regional co-operation and the state's EU integration, experts say.

Together with soldiers from 50 countries, regional army members participated in the Viking 14 Command Post and Computer Assisted Exercise, which focused co-operation on solving crises in conflict areas.

Serbia, as one of the five host countries, welcomed 30 members of foreign armed forces from 11 countries, including Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia. The group came to Belgrade to train concurrently with the teams in Bulgaria, Georgia, Ireland and Sweden.

The aim of the exercise "is to train and educate participants, civilian, military and police, in planning and conducting a UN-mandated Chapter VII Peace Support Operation, based on a comprehensive approach, and focusing on co-operation and co-ordination within an unstable environment, involving all stakeholders," according to the official website.

The exercise, which drew 2,500 participants, focused on how to resolve crises in the fictitious country of Bogaland.

"We were practicing, through simulations of various situations that are happening on the ground, how to resolve the same situation through mutual help," Major Jovan Krivokapic, spokesperson for the Serbian Ministry of Defence, told SETimes.

In one simulation, a soldier is wounded close to the base but can only survive for 47 minutes. The command must find a way to save him, but cannot reach him in time by using ground transportation. The commanding officer must call upon another country to save the soldier by helicopter. This is an example of interstate...