"The Serbian Army, in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia and the UN Charter, if it receives an order from the Commander-in-Chief, will fully carry out all its tasks in relation to the overall security crisis. Long live Serbia!", Chief of the General Staff, General Milan Mojsilović, said on June 23 at a recently convened press conference in his "address to the nation"; the address lasted a little over a minute and a half, and journalists were not allowed to ask questions.
What was the aim of the conference? General Mojsilović himself probably doesn't know - he was ordered to do so by the cabinet of the "supreme" and possibly delivered the text that he needs to read. Namely, he doesn't even wonder about it, just as he didn't wonder when, during the so-called crisis with Kosovo in the spring, he spoke live to the National Daily of Pink Television from the jeep on the way to Raška. It was part of raising the political rating of Aleksandar Vučić, since the army is a respected institution and his media advisors abuse it abundantly. In that context - if there is no "crisis" on the border with Kosovo, there will be a "display of the power of Serbian weapons". The series of "shows", the series of exercises and the series of crises have been going on for years. That's why the professionals in the army lose patience and leave. And we are not only talking about ordinary soldiers, who are paid the most poorly, but also officers and non-commissioned officers.
KOSOVO CRISIS CYCLE
"Fortunately, it's the vacation season, so neither Vučić nor Kurti will create the agreed-upon tensions anymore, because both of them know that all this exhausts people and causes dissatisfaction. The so-called the crisis in November and December, and then a small break due to Christmas and the holidays, so that people can rest a little, then again in March, and the last one that started at the end of May... How much longer, this is not a state of war so that there is motivation. It's clear to everyone that it's marketing," a high-ranking officer of the Serbian Army, who himself was in those "arranged televised weekend wars," told "Vreme".
He also explains that the people sleep in field conditions, under tents or in trucks, they eat from portions, they and the equipment get wet. And without need.
"What did we gain by transferring the 72nd Special Brigade from Pancevo to the administrative line with Kosovo? It's a long way, and it costs money. The per diems of soldiers and elders also cost money, as does Polish cuisine. It is true that the soldiers are preparing for war, but it is not good that it lasts in all four seasons. A row of sun, a row of snow and temperatures up to 20 below zero, as for example on Kopaonik. Or the 63rd Parachute, instead of training, it squats in some trenches without meaning or purpose, as if they were infantry units. All this has consequences for the morale of the soldiers", says the retired colonel and adds that he was "lucky" to have left before those "Kosovo circuses with threats of war".
An additional story, he says, is the people from the Second (Kraljevo), Third (Nis) and Fourth (Vranje) brigades of the Army, who are not special forces, but are on the verge of retirement due to constant engagement in the field and separation from their families: some have not been there for a month could go home, so they leave the army, look for a better job. And this fact was recently announced by the "supreme" Vučić himself, admitting that we have enough weapons, tools and equipment, but there is no one to handle them.
EVERYONE IS GONE
When, a few years ago, the author of this text, commenting on announcements by the regime's tabloids that there would be 100 tanks at the Pešter exercise, wrote that there were not that many tank crews in the Serbian Army, he experienced some state officials calling him a liar. When, not long after, Vučić confirms that there really are no crews.
And this is not the case only with tank drivers, but also with other specialties - people are leaving. For example, when you have a telecommunications and IT technology officer (after graduating from the Military Academy, they also get the title of manager in that field), foreign companies snatch them up and pay them severance pay, which they are obliged to return to the army for their education. The Ministry of Defense is silent about this - they never announced how many such experts left the army. But that's why they announce every day that regular training has been held in this and that group, the media's e-mail is simply flooded with it.
"In my warehouse (and it is important for the army), only the young second lieutenant and I are left, we inspect and move the crates there by ourselves, there is no one left, everyone has left," a non-commissioned officer told "Vreme".
A special story is the mistreatment of the army due to the media promotion of the minister and the "supreme" Vučić when they ostensibly go to the field to visit the units towards Kosovo. In addition to all their hardships in the field and poor living conditions, then the reviews are organized, the polishing of weapons, equipment and uniforms, they line up, rehearsals are held, they stand for hours in advance in that "camp room" just so that the cameras of "Zastava Filma" will record them. and forwarded to the media footage of a commander handing over a report to Vučić or Vučević, and they go around the exhausted and tortured soldiers and say: "Gentlemen, officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers - hello".
The phenomenon called "corporal gap" comes to the fore here - if the minister arrives at 12 o'clock, the commander orders the army to line up at 11:30.
And then by the time it reaches the lowest subordinate, and everyone in the chain takes a "gap" of 15-30 minutes, the army is lined up already at 8 o'clock.
This is also noticeable at all of Vučić's "parades", when little by little they carry a soldier out of the machine because they fainted.
At the moment, tensions with Kosovo have subsided, so the army can rest until autumn, and then probably "Jovo-nanovo". With a smaller number of soldiers, most likely.
photo: marija janković
Former Chief of General Staff Zdravko Ponoš assessed in a statement for "Vreme" that Vučić traditionally uses the army as a model of his rule in two ways.
"The first is by using the army as a pillar around which he wraps his cult of personality like ivy. This is what frequent ceremonial and every other picture taking with the army serves, as well as the inappropriate addressing with the non-existent title of commander-in-chief by pliable generals and party ministers. Another type of using the army as a model for your policy is much more demanding, expensive and dangerous. It is raising combat readiness and moving units closer to the administrative line with Kosovo. It is regularly practiced as a prelude to confronting the public with the latest loss on the subject of Kosovo. Better said, as a cover for a new round of failures of Vučić's Kosovo policy. By moving the army and increasing combat readiness, the security situation is dramatized to make it look like war is right around the corner, so that what he agrees to looks like a supreme success, given the circumstances."
According to Ponoš, such a movement of the army does not worry the authorities in Pristina or the international actors dealing with Kosovo, nor does it encourage the Serbs in Kosovo, who have known for a long time that it is a bluff.
"Everyone knows that the army will not be used. Of course, the members of the Serbian Armed Forces who go through that drill also know this. They know that everything is for marketing purposes. That is why, in the psychedelic sessions of obscure security experts and unusual retired officers on Pink and Happy television, fear of war is created and the wise policy of the so-called is glorified. supreme who preserved the peace, after which the humiliated army returns to its garrisons and homes. And so more and more often. So in a circle. It certainly has a bad effect on the morale of the Army. Along with poor training and low staffing, this unnecessary overstretching of units leads people to look for other less demanding and better paying jobs. Vučić reckons that he always has enough for painting. He doesn't need anything else. He has been shouting "wolf, wolf" for a long time. If it ever appears, few will react", Ponoš concludes.
Last week, Serbian President Vučić announced that he would "most likely" sign a ban on the export of ammunition and any weapons because Serbia's vital national interest is currently "threatened to the last degree".
"Everything must be prepared in case of aggression against the Republic of Serbia. All logistical preparations are being carried out", Vučić explained, and with that brief summary, in fact, he conveyed the core of his so-called address to the nation.
He didn't even forget to mention that the army is 100 percent stocked with food and fuel. What he "forgot" is to say the real reason for banning the export of weapons and military equipment and at whose request from abroad such a decision will be made. Sitting on two chairs can sometimes be uncomfortable and he, it seems, felt that with his own example, after mortars and other grenades from Serbia were found in Ukraine. "Brothers Rusi" made it clear to him and he has to repeat it.
He shyly added that it will be checked how things are with the already concluded export contracts, which is subject to international arbitration, and the "fatter end" will certainly pull out Jugoimport SDPR and defense industry factories, which until recently he swore were "the engine of Serbia's development and export ". The government "pumped" hundreds of millions of euros into them, and most of them are still losers, while some directors have become rich. How will it be if he signs this decision (and that promise should be doubted); catastrophically bad consequences cannot even be imagined.
