17.12.2021.
Minister Stefanović on Attacks against President Vučić Strengthening Armed Forces
Statement given by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Nebojša Stefanović PhD:
“Regrettably, over the last several months we have witnessed the whole world slipping in a series of minor or larger crisis, and we rarely see the answers that offer swift and efficient responses to them, but much more often we see the conflicts’ prolongation and their exacerbation. In such crisis, quite often, we have seen that the ones who got the worst of it were exclusively those who had been unprepared and who thought that it would have never happened to them. That happened chiefly because they had not understood the new picture of the world, and they had not learnt from experiences of others, or understood that the rules from 1987, 2005 and even 2020 did not apply today. Those who are not capable of learning, changing and adapting, will not be ready to predict and respond to challenges in front of us.
That is why when former Chief of General Staff, and today’s politician, Zdravko Ponoš says that the efforts of President Vučić to arm and equip our armed forces are crisis PR, I can only conclude that he either does not understand the developments in the world, or he has ill intent towards Serbia. The armed forces headed by Zdravko Ponoš were unable to be a means of deterrence, since they were hardly able to hold an exercise, and I will not even mention the non-existing planes, helicopters and tanks. The salaries that were barely higher than minimum wages and desperate situation with investments in all segments of defence surely did not stimulate the young to become part of the armed forces, but on the other hand both the Serbian Armed Forces and Serbia were excellent for all in the region, especially the malicious ones.
It was precisely in the period of Ponoš, Tadić, Đilas, Jeremić and numerous others that the hardest things happened to Serbia and its sovereignty, among other, because those people had halved and disarmed our armed forces, essentially making them incapable of being a true guarantee of the security of all citizens. To be entirely clear, I do not call for any conflict, and there is no one in Serbia who wants it, but the fact is that when you have strong armed forces no one else wants that conflict too. Otherwise, some energy, health or political crisis may pushed armed adventurers into a conflict with Serbia, because they may thing that it is the way to solve their problems.
That is why I am not surprised by the attacks against Aleksandar Vučić and his efforts to make Serbia stronger. That certainly does not suit anyone but Serbia. And this is the reason why we watch every day a constellation of people from the former regime, or those who seriously benefitted from the previous regime, competing to attack our every effort to build new hospitals, and now we are building them, new motorways, new schools, new factories, in which we can also buy new weapons for our soldiers. I would not want someone to think that I am naïve in my expectations for them not to attack the success of their country, regardless of the fact that Aleksandar Vučić stands behind it. However, I cannot but wonder at the fact that some of those people performed very important state functions and decided the fate of our people. If you have that in mind, I sometimes, find it incredible that we have managed to survive economically, medically, and if you will even militarily, though the consequences for the country, salaries, our economy and everything else were devastating.
Even less surprising are the monstrous threats to Aleksandar Vučić, that are daily and shamelessly uttered by people who wish to portray themselves as part of this society’s elite. What is elite about the threats to the president of this country, and often to his children, that they will end their lives in some monstrous way so that they can get hold of the power again? Goran Marković is but the last in a row of those who openly threat President Vučić and this has not been the first time. Much louder is the lack of condemnation or at least distancing from such a behaviour by his political mentors, which clearly shows that Tadić, Đilas, Jeremić, Tepić, Ponoš, Lutovac share and support those very positions.
Though I know that it is not easy for Aleksandar Vučić, and his family, and all well-meaning people in Serbia to listen such attacks, but I know that decent majority of Serbia is united in its support to its president and the hard path of sovereignty and independence that he chose for our country. That is exactly why I know that we have to continue building roads, and hospitals, and schools and kindergartens and subway and the new future for all people in Serbia, to continue supporting the policy of President Vučić, which is the only one that guarantees that future.
