9 Contemporary Military Challenges, November 2021 – 23/No. 4
  Sodobni vojaški izzivi, november 2021 – 23/št. 4
The final issue of Contemporary Military Challenges in 2021 focuses on specific 
demanding topics. Despite the variety of such topics, this issue focuses mainly on 
Covid-19 and the situations it has created in the area of security, and how that has 
impacted individuals, the country as a whole, and its public institution representatives. 
The focus lies on the security of an individual as a value which is also crucial for 
the individual personally. This becomes even more important when the individual 
comes in contact with others, in particularly those who work in state institutions. 
Last but not least, the issue highlights the importance of the security of the state as 
the broadest multitude of individuals.
In the time marked by Covid-19, the attention of individuals and society as a whole 
has been focused on people’s health and security. In trying to ensure the latter, the 
people involved in this process find themselves in variously difficult situations in 
which even those whose primary occupation is to provide care for others are in one 
way or another exposed to risks due to their work. Communication and the way in 
which we communicate are very important even in normal circumstances. In special 
circumstances, which the Covid-19 period definitely has been, communication is 
essential.
In his recent article published in the Dnevnik daily newspaper’s Saturday 
supplement »Objektiv«, Igor Kotnik, who holds a PhD in defence studies, writes 
about the importance of communication in the times of Covid-19. In his article, 
entitled »Communication in the Times of Covid: From Fear to Peace«, he addresses 
the importance of the management conducted by the state and its institutions while 
taking into account the social, mass situations, feelings and responses. He writes that 
»we have entrusted their management to the state and its institutions by means of 
a contract, and the latter should strive to reduce the number of citizens who might 
EDITORIAL
INDIVIDUAL, STATE, SECURITY
Liliana Brožič DOI:10.33179/BSV.99.SVI.11.CMC.23.4.00
 10 Sodobni vojaški izzivi/Contemporary Military Challenges
respond to such situations with denial or fear through the work they put into the 
management of unpleasant and dangerous situations«.
This is a very difficult process, which puts to the test the knowledge and integrity 
of each person at an individual level in both the domestic and work environments. 
With regard to the professions in charge of managing the crisis marked by this 
disease at the national level, the main things put to the test are leadership skills, 
interpersonal relationships, stress management, public performance, self-protective 
behaviour, and managing the masses, all with the intent of minimizing the feeling 
of fear, mistrust and insecurity to the greatest extent possible, and establishing a 
feeling of security by emphasizing logical explanations and thinking, which should 
prevail over uncontrolled emotions and possible distress. The example of Covid-19 
has many characteristics of a crisis. Whenever a crisis period lasts a long time and is 
very specific, it can lead to serious changes in the fields of ethics, morale, law, human 
rights, social values, and security, which can be quite alarming.
The papers in this issue address specific aspects of managing the special situations 
and circumstances that the authors have decided to share with others.
In his paper, Suicidality in the Police, Bruno Blažina reveals the research in this field 
and compares it to the occurrence of the phenomenon and the resulting intervention 
in the Slovenian Armed Forces and in certain foreign states which are dealing with 
this issue in a more or less effective way. He assesses that the Slovenian Armed 
Forces are addressing suicidality in the Slovenian Armed Forces in a systemic way, 
while the police have not yet established such a system. He proposes new measures 
for the prevention of suicidality in this state body.
Małgorzata Zielińska, Joanna Łatacz and Joanna Zauer write about The public’s 
perception of the Territorial Defence Forces in Poland. Poland introduced territorial 
defence at the beginning of 2017. The researchers focus mainly on the public opinion 
of its tasks, which the TDF is supposed to carry out within the Polish national 
security system. The territorial defence is supposed to be active in the system of 
protection, rescue and relief, be in charge of the safety of the inhabitants and critical 
infrastructure, and even participate in the implementation of military tasks. The 
Polish Government has included its territorial defence in the fight against Covid-19.
In her paper, Gabriella Ráczkevy-Deák studied the occurrence of Violent acts 
against healthcare institutions and workers in Hungary. Their expert knowledge 
in the field of healthcare does not suffice for confronting challenges such as violent 
patients, their family members, and even co-workers. In state institutions, additional 
knowledge and experience from other fields are becoming increasingly sought after. 
The author focuses mainly on knowledge in the field of communication, self-esteem 
and self-defence, and offers some system solutions. 
Liliana Brožič
 11 Sodobni vojaški izzivi/Contemporary Military Challenges
Rok Filipčič writes about Cultural heritage and its preservation in the times of 
armed conflict. He presents a chronological overview of the development of this field, 
the key milestones in contemporary history and in the international legal order, and 
the measures that were introduced for the purposes of protecting cultural heritage at 
home and abroad. The author presents Slovenian successes and lessons learned, and 
attributes special emphasis to the protection of this field from the aspect of a military 
organization. The Military Museum, working within the Ministry of Defence of the 
Republic of Slovenia, gives special attention to the protection of military cultural 
heritage in Slovenia. 
INDIVIDUAL, STATE, SECURITY