Eurasia Press & News
The new arming of Serbia and the increase in the level of fear among citizens represents the system of governance of Aleksandar Vučić, according to Danas interlocutors, reacting to the statement of the President of Serbia that he will invest huge amounts of money in the defense industry and the army.
They also add that instead of spending millions on armaments, it would be more expedient for him to work on improving better relations with his neighbors in the region.
However, according to their assessment, Vučić has proven several times that he cannot swim in calm waters.
To remind you, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said from the international arms fair in Abu Dhabi that “the Serbian Army must be much stronger” than it is today, even though it is “incomparably stronger than it was”.
“We have to invest huge money in the defense industry and the military. I had a conversation with Prime Minister Ana Brnabić and Minister (Finance) Siniša Mali. We are trying not to damage anyone or anything in the country, and to drastically increase our operational and functional capabilities, which means combat readiness,” Vučić said, adding that the plan is to acquire 200 domestically produced heavy weapons in 2023 and 2024. which is about 300 million euros, as well as that there is great interest from foreign buyers in the acquisition of our weapons.
Miroslav Parović from the People’s Freedom Movement believes that Vučić has been securing international points for himself by purchasing weapons – “a little from the Russians, a little from the Chinese, a little from the French, a little from the Americans.” In the end, as he says, nothing has been matched in the army and for many of the purchased weapons there is no staff at all who can service them.
“The new announcements made by Vučić mean that he will go in the direction of signing a strategic agreement with one of the NATO countries, and then, based on that agreement, the purchase of weapons will go according to the Western standard, which will change the existing ones, which are mostly Russian (formerly Soviet). In this direction, a performance was also played with the owner of Pink, Žejlko Mitrović, where it was said in front of the cameras that his toy drones would be bought for 20 million euros, and the goal of this was to focus on that reality in order to get through the contract with NATO more easily. , Parović points out.
According to his words, all in all, Vučić is destroying Serbia’s neutral position against the will of the people and against the national interest.
“That is why he should be removed from power, and then others should negotiate with the international community so that the region with Serbia in the center will play the role of Austria after the Second World War, which is a neutral country within the political West.” The blackmailed Vučić is not looking for it, but is looking to continue his personal regime through corruption, and along the way he is becoming more and more aggressive and, as you can see, he is arresting journalists for verbal offenses, and soon he will move on to much worse repression,” notes the interviewee of Danas.
And Biljana Stojković, co-president of the Zajedno party, believes that arming and increasing the level of fear among citizens represents the ruling system of Aleksandra Vučić.
According to her, he is desperately finding ways to divert the topic from Kosovo, and at the same time to intimidate and inform as many people in Serbia as possible.
“Of course, the daily needs of poor and disenfranchised citizens are something completely different, but dealing with those problems cannot lead to the survival of Vučić in power, which is all he cares about. In this context, he cannot be expected to hold a dialogue, to bring together the countries of the Western Balkans around a policy of peace and cooperation, because he cannot swim in calm waters, similar to any autocrat. For this reason, it is clear that Vučić is part of the problem for peace in the Balkans, and this is proven by intensive arming,” Stojković points out.
For Aleksandar Olenik, an independent representative in the Serbian Parliament, instead of spending millions on armaments, it would be simpler if Serbia became a NATO member. Because, as he says, only as a member of NATO, Serbia can realistically ensure peace, stability and security for all citizens.
“All other theories serve only to take a percentage from the arms trade. As for priorities, these millions should be invested in education and health care,” notes Olenik, while Srđan Milivojević, deputy of the Democratic Party, tells Vučić that it is better to invest more in modernizing and equipping prisons, possibly also in sewing high-quality and comfortable prison uniforms, than in arming.
“Now that Vulin has also served in the army at the age of 50, it is clear to every citizen of this country that the future of progressives is not in the Serbian Army, but in Zabela. It is known that many progressives were incapable of participating in the wars they created with their politics, but for Zabela they are certainly capable. 5,000 special forces will certainly not save Vučić from popular discontent. As for his promises, the investment in wax will be twice as big as the investment in flying cars that he promised, as well as the Belgrade-Stalać-Thessaloniki canal,” says Milivojević in his own style.
Radomir Lazović, the head of the Green-Left Parliamentary Club Ne davimo Beograd, believes that Serbia is the country with the greatest inequalities in Europe. A small number of people, mostly in a direct relationship with SNS, have a lot of money, possess enormous wealth, while the majority of citizens can barely feed their families.
“Instead of solving it with different measures, during the government of SNS, the giving for the army and the police has been doubled since 2012. Now it is 2 billion euros, or 14 percent of the budget. Any additional investment in the military is completely unacceptable. “Serbia needs to cultivate good neighborly relations with its environment and invest in cooperation, infrastructure and most importantly invest in its citizens”, notes Lazović.
For him, it is particularly unacceptable that a man who should be an example of respect for the law and the constitution, is now talking about black funds for armaments.
“Where do Serbia’s black funds come from, do you mean maybe the money from the sale of drugs from Jovanjica or the surpluses that remained with the companies associated with the arms trade from Krušik? “It seems that at the head of the state we have a man deeply immersed in crime, when he does not hide that he disposes of black funds,” Lazović points out.
To tell the truth, the president did not say where the money for additional armament came from, but that he almost broke down due to financial calculations, but that Prime Minister Ana Brnabić and Finance Minister Siniša Mali came to the rescue and the money was found.
Therefore, it is not surprising that President Vučić already announced today that within 48 hours he will sign the first contract with the UAE on the purchase of their “suicide” drones, which will arrive in Serbia very soon.
“These are suicide drones and they will be on the territory of Serbia, and we hope that in the next five or six months we will be able to have the first Serbian suicide drones in the Serbian Army,” Vučić told reporters at the International Fair of Arms and Military Equipment “IDEX 2023”. in Abu Dhabi. He also added that “the army is not a toy” and that it is a complicated process and that the procedures for receiving new weapons in the Serbian Armed Forces are long.
