01.05.2020.
Minister Vulin for “Politika”: We have executed Supreme Commander’s order to have the military take over the responsibilities in the fight against the pandemic and preserve the combat readiness
The Serbian Armed Forces and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had their first contact with the infected people when the virus was the strongest, at the border and in reception camps. Whether they were military doctors, medical staff, veterinarians, police officers or any other members of the military, they were all tasked with receiving our countrymen who were returning from countries where the epidemic was at its peak, the Minister of Defence Aleksandar Vulin said in an interview for a holiday issue of the "Politika" newspaper.
He gave examples of what all members of the Serbian Armed Forces faced during the state of emergency.
"We have had situations where our citizens, often infected, took the masks off our soldiers’ faces because they wanted to leave the camp, soldiers saved the lives of people injured in traffic accidents without thinking that they themselves could get infected. There were attacks on medical personnel protected by our soldiers.", Minister Vulin cited some of the situations when the soldiers’ health was at risk and recalled the case of a nursing home in Borča whose entire staff simply did not come to work and left the residents without care and food so the military were the only ones in charge of security in the entire facility until the authorities were able to solve the problem.
Asked about the strengthening of CBRN units, which proved necessary in the fight against coronavirus, Minister Vulin said that during the 2005-2007 military reforms, the CBRN component was systematically downsized almost to destruction.
"Until the corps and armies were abolished, we had an army-level CBRN brigade; each division had a company, a brigade had a mixed platoon, and a battalion had a CBRN section. We now have only one battalion, stationed in Kruševac. The great efforts of all members of the 246th CBRN Battalion compensated for the shortage of personnel and equipment, and a great assistance was provided by the members of the NBC units of the Western Military District of the Russian Federation", said the Minister of Defence and pointed out the need for changes that would include the return of the CBRN component to the units, but also numerous other changes in the organization of our military.
"It is illogical that all four brigades are the same in terms of composition, equipment and armaments, and each of them covers a completely different territory and in the event of war they have to perform completely different tasks. Each unit must be able to fight independently with minimal assistance of other units. The modular model of armed forces, which serves primarily for peacekeeping missions or participation in interventions under foreign command, is not the model that the Serbian Armed Forces and the doctrine of military neutrality need," said Minister Vulin, giving the example of the current modular model where armoured units and infantry come together for the first time in the war, and until then, they are trained independently.
"Experiences from Syria and the civil wars in the SFRY, teach us that there is no successful use of tanks without mechanized infantry, and this is not possible without a different organization, training, and doctrine."
Minister Vulin also emphasized that "to successfully combat any catastrophe, a broader training of the population is needed", which, according to him, cannot be implemented solely by the Ministry of Defence. “This requires organized efforts of the entire country. After the floods and the virus, I do not think explanation is needed as to why we all need to be better prepared than we are. "
The Serbian Armed Forces, with minimal use of force, guard 20 camps with over 8,000 migrants who do not want to be there, said the minister of defence, recalling that in two separate incidents, members of the 72nd Special Operations Brigade had to use weapons to fire warning shots.
"When the attempted attack in Krnjača occurred, I happened to be at that particular camp and I told our members that they must not allow anyone to take away their rifle or hurt any of our soldiers. And that is the way it was," Minister Vulin said, showing with one example what kind of migrants’ behaviour soldiers are facing with in the camps. In one of the camps, while migrants were being relocated, a migrant put a knife to his child’s throat and threatened to kill him. The raving man was calmed down and disarmed by a lieutenant who had never encountered such a situation before.
"We have protected both migrants and our citizens," said Minister Vulin, "showing humanity but not weakness."
He stressed that despite the epidemic, the Serbian Armed Forces continued their training.
"The Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces, Aleksandar Vučić, issued an order to us when the state of emergency was introduced, which stated that the Serbian Armed Forces must assume a large number of duties in the fight against the virus, but must not allow that their combat readiness decreases or that they lose any of their capabilities.", said the minister of defence, stressing that the Serbian skies were guarded by Air Force and Air Defence every day, and all Army units were ready to fulfil their tasks.
He emphasized the contribution of soldiers who are doing voluntary military service in the fight against the virus. They set up all temporary hospitals, prepared the hospital in Karaburma, assisted in cleaning the temporary hospitals at the Belgrade Fair, in Novi Sad, Niš, etc.
He also announced a continuation of reserve forces training, stating that calling up into the reserve forces the people who have not served in the military has given excellent results. Minister Vulin recalled that since the introduction of the training, about 1,000 people have undergone it so far, with a response rate ranging from 94 to 98 percent.
In response to a question about the further provision of armament and equipment to the Serbian Armed Forces, Minister Vulin emphasized that everything we ordered is being prepared and will be delivered in accordance with the contract.
"President Vučić’s policy of military neutrality has also determined our equipment. We need to be able to protect ourselves because no one else will do it for us," Minister Vulin emphasized, stating that we now have the "KUB" AD systems that are being modernized; the "Pantsir" which is the best in the world in its class, and the long-range air defence system is the next step in our military.
"There will be no delays in the delivery of four MiG-29s from Belarus and they will be a part of our Air Force at the beginning of next year," the Minister of Defence Aleksandar Vulin said in the interview with journalist Milan Galović for the holiday issue of “Politika” newspaper.
