MODERN DEFENSE FAIR IN GORNJA RADGONA OPENED ITS COOPERATION DOOR FOR A SAFER FUTURE

The Modern Army Fair, the 4th International Fair of Knowledge, Defense Technique and Means, Civil Protection and Fire Fighting in Gornja Radgona connected from September 20 – 22 the manufacturers of the state defense equipment, civil protection and fire fighting, users of this equipment and umbrella organisations the parts of which they are.
130 exhibitors from 18 countries presented themselves on 6,500 m2 indoor and 20,000 m2 outdoor exhibition space. Additionally, 25,000 m2 was allocated to demonstration polygon, and 16,000 m2 to the Triglav mobile logistic base.
The Fair was a showplace for wide arsenal of weapons, equipment, vehicles, telecommunication, sanitary material and clothing for the army, the civil protection and fire fighting, technical and personal protection and everything else required for the activities of those protecting the state, property and lives.
As reported by the exhibitors, their exhibition spaces were visited by business people from the whole European Union, and also the interest from the South-Eastern European countries was considerable. Gornja Radgona, the fair city at the crossroads of Slovenia, Austria, Croatia and Hungary, is hence gaining importance as the bridge of cooperation for the defence industry, civil protection industry and fire fighting, linking the EU internally and with the countries pursuing their EU accession.
63 journalists from 20 European countries contributed to the even bigger international echo of this event. They have visited the fair in the framework of the 28th congress of the EMPA - European Military Press Association, organized by the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Slovenia during the time of the fair.

Even more as in the commercial part of the Fair, the general audience was interested in the technical presentation of the umbrella institutions from the field of defence and civil protection in which the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Slovenia (MORS), the Slovenian Armed Forces, bodies and services within the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Slovenia, the Administration of the Republic of Slovenia for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief and the Union of Fire Fighters of Slovenia.
All units and commands of the Slovenian Armed Forces have presented themselves at the fair. The visitors had the opportunity to test their military skills on different simulators. Every day tasty military food was served free of charge.
The most important novelty of the technical part of the Fair was the Triglav mobile logistic base which is the biggest project of its kind ever shown in Slovenia. Under real-life conditions the visitors were acquainted with the life of soldiers in the field, their activities, technical support, nutrition, recreation, care for personal hygiene and appearance, religious, cultural and social life...
Another novelty of the fair were accompanying activities for young people organized by the Slovenian Armed Forces in the C3 hall. A special corner was inviting for children who could shoot with water guns and build choppers from cubes. In only three days, the fair hosted 330 of the youngest among us. Older children could test their skills in bow shooting (800 visitors), 800 shot with air guns, 500 climbed an artificial mountain and 800 threw bombs – balls. The best were awarded with usable military products. The visitors could admire oldtimer military vehicles. Every day the visitors could meet a famous Slovenian athlete such as Miran Stanovnik, Jure Robič or Nuša Rajher.
This year the Ministry of Defence paid even more attention to the dynamic presentations of military techniques and skills of the armed forces members due to the interest of the visitors. Equipment, introduced in the past two years, was the focus of the military technique demonstration.

The Administration of the Republic of Slovenia for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief represented activities within the scope of the protection system from natural and other disasters with focus on protection and rescue radio communications, information and communication system, intelligence activities programme, education and training of preschool and school children and mutual protection, as well as regional and state protection and rescue plans.
The Fire Fighters of Slovenia presented their activities and organization, designations for ranks and functions, orders, preventive activities with focus on fire safety in the living and working environment, and their cooperation with the Slovenian Armed Forces and the fire fighter's associations from the neighbouring countries. An interesting contribution to the exhibition space was the museum fire fighting equipment and models. Together with the Slovenian Armed Forces, the Police and the fire fighters from Austria and Hungary a demonstration of fire fighting action in case of accident was demonstrated in the Triglav logistic base.

The chair of defence sciences at the Faculty for Social Siences jointed the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Slovenia, the Slovenian Armed Forces and the Administration of the Republic of Slovenia for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief in the organization of the well-accepted accompanying happening.
A professional consultation was held in honour of the 10th anniversary of the international cooperation in peace missions. The commanders of the Slovenian Armed Forces, brigadier Alan Geder, hosted experts from the Faculty for Social Sciences, Police, the Ministry of Exterior and the military reporter, Boštjan Videmšek. The consultation presented the topic in detail, defined the mission of all involved in the crisis response operations, and contributed to closer cooperation among them.
At the roundtable, representatives of the chair for defence sciences at the Ljubljana Faculty for Social Sciences, Directorate for the European Defence Industry and Market in the European Defence Agency, Agency NAMSA (NATO - maintenance and Supply Agency), as well as the Alenia Aeronautica Groups presented the opportunities of the Slovenian defence industry in the EU and NATO
MORS and the Slovenian Armed Forces representatives explained to foreign journalists the defence system, the structure and the activities of the Slovenian Armed Forces, military doctrine and the tenth anniversary of cooperation in crisis response operations.
A special consultation illuminated the development-research activities at the Ministry of
Defence of the RS and its implementation in the Slovenian and European space.

The Modern Defence Fair proved to be an indispensable meeting point for business people searching for contacts with contracting authorities, and at the same time as an biannual event at which soldiers, representatives of the civil protection forces, fire fighters and other persons in charge for national safety and the protection of property and life of citizens meet. As such, the event is important for the exchange of experiences and to get acquainted with the specifics of the activities performed by colleagues who pursue the same objective in different units and organizations – ensuring national safety and protecting property and lives. The excellent visit of this event proves that they are jointly fighting to achieve these objectives, supported by the widest audience. Despite of the only three days, the fair was visited by 30,000 visitors.