ODBRANA Magazine
ODBRANA Magazine is the magazine of the Ministry of Defence that has been issued since October 1, 2005. It is founded by the Public Relations Department, and published by Odbrana Media Center.
The main task of Odbrana is to inform members of the Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces of Serbia, employees in all other elements of the defence system, as well as the general national and international public about all current subjects involving the country’s defence.
Odbrana continues the 137 years long tradition of military press. “Warrior” (Ratnik) was the first official military magazine in Serbia, first published in January 24, 1879. This day is marked as the Day of Odbrana Media Center.
“Warrior” was founded by General Staff Lieutenant Colonel Jovan Miskovic, Minister of Military, who later became a General and the Head of the General Staff, a member of the Serbian Scholars Society and the president of the Serbian Academy of Science. In his order on founding “Warrior”, stressing the significance of military press, he stated that “a military without its press is like a man without speech”.
Actually, “Warrior” was not the first military magazine in Serbia. This honorable place belongs to “Vojin”, the first military technical magazine in Serbia and in the Balkans. Owner and editor of “Vojin” was Jovan Dragasevic, who was also the first editor of “Warrior”.
Editors of “Warrior”, which was intermittently published until 1941, were some of the most respectable military theorists, thinkers and military leaders in the Serbian military: voivodes Zivojin Misic and Stepa Stepanovic, generals Jovan Dragasevic, Bozidar Jankovic, Milos Vasic and many others.
At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, a line of military magazines were issued in Serbia under the auspices of the Ministry of Military or as proprietary issues. Some of them were “Military” (issued from 1903 to 1907), “Serbian Military” (1908-1913), “War Journal” (1919-1941).
The Second World War imminently caused the pre-war military magazines to shut down. Central military political magazine during the National Liberation War was “Chief Headquarters Bulletin”. “Borba” was also issued, and, occasionally, press from commands and units.
One of the brightest pages in the history of Serbian military press is issuing the illustrated military magazine “Front” in the early 1945. In autumn that year, “People’s Army” was founded, which, after almost 5 decades of continuous publishing, was merged with “Front” into a new magazine “Military” in May, 1992.
As the main magazine of the Press Publishing Center “Military”, from its first issue to the next 13 years of its existence under that name, “Military” followed through all the most important events in the state and the military. One of the most dramatic ones was certainly the actions during the NATO aggression on FRY. In wartime conditions, the redaction printed 40 war issues, as a unique testimony of defence and resistance.
By the provision of the Minister of Defence of Serbia and Montenegro, after 710 issues, “Military” was shut down on September 8, 2005. By the same provision, “Odbrana” was established, and thus another chapter of the history of military press began.
Traditions of “Warrior”, “People’s Army” and “Military” are continued by Odbrana Media Center and Odbrana biweekly magazine of the Ministry of defence.
Since 2006, Odbrana has been a member of the European Military Press Association (EMPA), and 31st Congress of this association was held in Belgrade, in 2010.
