First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Ivica Dacic said Friday that the Ministry’s negotiating team for crisis situations has so far intervened 101 times and rescued 36 hostages.

At its annual meeting held at the police training centre on Mt Avala, Dacic said that the team peacefully solved 71% of the cases.

He said that this police force was formed seven years ago and added that the longest action, i.e. negotiation, lasted for 72 hours.

Team members are carefully selected, after which they undergo training, he explained.

Serbian negotiators have acquired their skills by learning from colleagues in the FBI and Scotland Yard, he said.

The Deputy Prime Minister wished the negotiators even more success in their future work.