23.08.2018.
Minister Vulin: Decision after analysis
Wherever Serbia is to decide, there will be no conflict
Defence Minister Aleksandar Vulin said today, as a guest in the RTS Jutarnji Dnevnik, that, in accordance with the order of Aleksandar Vučić, Supreme Commander of Serbian Armed Forces, the Ministry of Defence is conducting a comprehensive analysis, based on which appropriate conclusions would be made as to whether the re-introduction of mandatory military service is necessary, how much would it cost, and what are strengths and weaknesses of that for the society.
- I would not bid on dates and deadlines, because the obligation to serve a military service was abolished quite suddenly, and without some great preparation and consideration of what it would bring. We would not make the same mistake, so that the possible return of military service must be the product of serious work and reflection and something about which, in the first place, advice should be sought from the profession - Minister Vulin emphasized.
Speaking about the reasons for considering the return of conscription, Minister Vulin stressed that we should bear in mind that Sweden, which is a neutral state, is thinking about it, that large Germany is also considering this decision, that Austria is considering prolonging military service, and that Cyprus or Greece are not thinking of giving up mandatory military service.
- Serbia is a neutral country, and a neutral country must be strong enough to respond to every threat on its own. A powerful army, an army in which the entire nation is involved in defence preparations is an army you would not attack. The best way to save peace is that you have a strong army and when you show that the entire society is ready to defend its country, it is unlikely that someone will attack you - the defence minister said.
According to him, it is up to us to be strong enough that nobody even thinks that there will be a conflict with Serbia and that the conflict with Serbia could pay off at all.
- These are things that must be considered and that have their economic cost and it must be observed from that point of view as well, and not only from the military and political point of view, and this analysis is to show that - Minister Vulin assessed.
Asked to comment on whether the reason for the decision to return the military service was, among other things, the fact that there is some real threat to Serbia, Minister Vulin said that Serbia is in the Balkans, which is the area in which such things are happening.
- We grew up as a generation that believed that there would never be a war anymore and when we lived in the SFRY, we believed that this country would never break down and that war was only a past and that it was only a story from partisan films. Unfortunately, we saw that this happened to us and to our generation. No one has the right to say that this cannot happen and if it is up to Serbia, it will not happen for sure. No war and conflict will be as far as Serbia is asked, but unfortunately, Serbia is not asked everywhere - Minister Vulin pointed out.
According to him, Serbia must be ready to defend itself and nobody has the right to be irresponsible and not to think that Serbia must be so ready that nobody even pretends to attack us. A powerful army and a strong country, he added, are the guarantors of peace, and when you have an army that is powerful and capable of defending the country, nobody even pretends to attack you.
Commenting media reports on the financial aspects of reintroduction of the military service obligation, Minister Vulin stressed that these were “ridiculous assessments” and that it was very interesting that someone after just one day only talking about that idea has already come out with a concrete amount, as if it was a much smaller amount than the media speculates.
- I cannot speak about the exact figure, because it has not been finished yet. But this is equally ridiculous as when I am listening to politicians who suddenly make statements about it, so you have those who would like our country to be part of the NATO Pact or some other military alliance, but they say, “conscription no way, it is expensive”, and then in some military pact they would serve someone else. Then you have those ones, who used to say every day until yesterday that they would “make attak on Peć and Đakovica” and that they can hardly wait for that to happen, and now when someone says to them that they could possibly spend two or three months of their lives in the army, they say it is “absolutely unacceptable and that it is the militarisation of the society”, Minister Vulin emphasized.
Answering the question of whether such a decision would affect the professional composition of the army, as well as whether it will reduce the investments in the modernization of the army, equipping and a better standard of professional soldiers, Minister Vulin reminded that it was not a novelty for us to have a combined army - professional staff and conscripts.
- Of course, we would continue investing in the army, and when we listen to those who have practically abolished our army saying that 10,000 persons will be fired from the army, on the contrary, if you had a military service obligation, you would have a large number of recruits who should be taken care of, trained and worked with. Not only that we would not fire a single soldier, but we would probably also demand new officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers - Minister Vulin said.
