11.12.2021.
Vučić: Serbia continues to develop and enhance its military capabilities
After the meeting with the Minister of Defence Nebojša Stefanović and the military management, following the military display in Niš, the President of the Republic of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić said that the security situation in the entire world, including our region, is becoming increasingly complex, which is why Serbia must continue to develop and enhance its military capabilities.
"In order for the Serbian Armed Forces to be sufficient deterrent to prevent any potential threat to Serbian territory," Vučić said.Vučić told reporters that he was presented with a five-year plan for equipping, arming, organizing and staffing for the 2022-2027 period.
Vučić said that the plan proposes huge investment in the armed forces and that he has talked to Minister Stefanović about it, and that extra 500 million euros, at the least, should be invested in the armed forces annually, although the real need of the armed forces are extra 700 million euros per year.
"It is in fact one more military budget," Vučić added, noting that the complexity of the situation should be kept in mind.
Vučić said that the capabilities of the NORA B-52 M15 self-propelled gun howitzer division could be seen at the military display in Niš. He added that these howitzers are a product of the Serbian Military Industry and we sell them on the European Union market.
According to Vučić, powerful reinforcements will be provided for all Army branches in the coming period and we need more soldiers, which is why the financial status of officers and NCOs will continue to improve.
According to him, it is important for every country to solve three key issues in order to survive in the modern world, where every man is a wolf to another man.
First, to secure its borders and provide security to its citizens, then to provide sufficient quantities of electricity, oil and gas, and finally, to make sure it has enough food in the future.
According to Vučić, they also talked about the food reserve for the armed forces, which should be replenished to capacity. This reserve should be for two months, not for 15 days as is the case now, although in case of an attack, we will switch to war production.
Vučić said that this would be discussed with the Commodity Reserves. "We do not anticipate anything, but we want to show that we are an organized and capable state, and that is why we must make sure that we manage our commodity reserves, from food to ammunition, in an efficient way," Vučić said.
Vučić said that there will be big crises in the region and Europe due to electricity and gas prices going up.
Vučić added that the current price of gas is 1,250 dollars per 1,000 cubic metres on the stock market, which is 4.5-5 times higher than the price we pay nowadays.
"You have to keep in mind that we have quantities limited by contracts. Today we get 6.5 million cubic metres a day for $ 270, and what are we going to do when the weather gets colder, when our needs rise to 10 million. What are we going to do about the additional four million, how much would that cost us", Vučić emphasized and added that Serbia is in a much better situation than other countries in the region.
Vučić said that yesterday we sold a small amount of electricity to a country in the region, which paid 499 euros per megawatt hour, while it had cost us 52 euros.
He pointed out that Montenegro, Albania and North Macedonia buy electricity on a daily basis at a price of 350 to 400 euros per megawatt.
They buy 50 to 60 percent of the required amount daily at those prices, Vučić added, and noted that Europe lacks 70 billion cubic metres of gas, because China buys everything - coal, liquefied gas, the entire global supply.
That is why the armed forces, as a guarantor of stability and security, must exist and act as a real deterrent against anyone who thinks of threatening Serbia, Vučić said.
Vučić said that tomorrow he will hold a meeting with the entire Serbian military industry.
"The orders we place to our military industry are worth 200 million euroes per year, and we will have to order over 250 million dinars worth of items from our industry alone, since we have to reinforce it“, said Vučić. He added that there is a market for many of our military industry products all over the world.
“All the prices are going up, from bitumen to cement. There are many problems, but we are doing our best to get around them. I am satisfied with the engagement of those people, but I have never and will never be satisfied with their preparedness and readiness. But I am more satisfied now than I was before. Even when we are much stronger, I will not be satisfied” Vučić said.
"The same goes for the armed forces, you have 14 aircraft, but you have to increase the number. When you purchase four MI 13s, they say you need a squadron of eight, and then they say, based on experience, that there should be three units of three. When you procure something, new things come up, there is always something else you need to procure in order to achieve the result. You need to procure ammunition, fuel, because these people have to train using the equipment we have procured," Vučić points out.
According to him, we spend huge amounts of money on our armed forces.
"They are many times stronger today than when I became the Minister of Defence. I am happy that we have made great changes. Is it ideal? It is still far from it," Vučić concluded.
We have not yet made a decision on the reintroduction of compulsory military service
Vučić said that the decision on the reintroduction of compulsory military service has not been made yet.
When asked about the reintroduction of compulsory military service, Vučić said that there are many problems about that, many open issues.
"We have not yet made a decision on that, because there are a number of open issues," Vučić explained, adding that it would certainly be beneficial for the armed forces.
According to Vučić, one question is, for example, what would be minimum age to enlist, and if it is decided that the youngest soldiers should be those born in 2004 or 2005, the number of conscripts would amount to 35,000, a number that the military cannot admit at the moment, since its capacity is 10,000.
The next question is who should be exempted from military service and who should not, and how much should the soldiers be paid, although that is the smallest problem, and whether the training command is able to train the soldiers.
“These are just some of the questions concerning this strategic decision. I know that the majority of citizens are in favour of that decision, but there are a million problems that we are discussing, and we are also considering a significant increase in salary for military volunteers. We are still weighing up those two options," Vučić emphasized.
Vučić said that our armed forces need to be reinforced by 5,000 soldiers, at the least.
He said that the state is procuring equipment, but we need people to fly those planes, and now we do not have enough pilots, so new people have to be trained.
"These are not simple things, the military is a complex system, and it cannot be built in a year or two. We have been building it for nine years and only now can we see progress," Vučić explained, adding that the public does not see everything, because only one part is shown.
He pointed out that our armed forces are incomparably stronger than they were, and in a few months’ time, he will be able to say that we are no longer as easy a target as we used to be, and that no one will be able to play cat and mouse with us anymore.
He believes that in this way, no other Milica or little Sanja, who lost her life on the bridge in Varvarin, will ever have to die again.
"At that time, our armed forces were not strong enough to fight back and defend the country, but that is changing," Vučić said.
Vučić said that this is only a part of the problem regarding the issue that seems minor.
"We made all the calculations, but it is not easy to make such a decision," Vučić concluded.
Before the end of the year, "Cornets" will arrive from Russia
Vučić expects “Cornets”, Russian anti-tank missiles, to arrive in Serbia before the end of the year, which will significantly strengthen the Serbian Armed Forces.
He also expects procurement of significant amounts of weapons and military equipment in 2022, particularly in the period from 2023 to 2025.
Vučić also said that we have to procure more fighter and fighter-bomber aircraft. Vučić said that he talked to the most important people in the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces about military security and economic and political situation in the region and the world, and potential threats to the security of Serbia and its citizens.
Vučić said that they had in mind the complexity of the situation we are facing today - growing tensions in Eastern Europe and growing economic, energy and political conflicts between the Western world and China and Russia, and the interests of great powers and regional powers crossing paths in our region.
"This obliges us to further strengthen the Serbian Armed Forces and we have discussed the ways to staff our units and further improve the financial status of soldiers, officers and non-commissioned officers, although the situation is better now than before, and the ways to attract more people to enlist so that all the units have enough personnel, in accordance with the goals", said Vučić.
Vučić said that there will be certain changes in strategic documents in terms of further strengthening our armed forces and maintaining our military neutrality. These documents will clearly lay out the Serbian Armed Forces’ need to achieve a certain level of military strength and capability.
Larger investment in the Serbian Armed Forces, Serbia ensures its freedom
"Serbia will not attack anyone, but it is our job to protect our country, especially because we are not a NATO member and we must ensure our freedom and a secure sky, and we will be able to do that," Vučić said, announcing much greater investment in the armed forces.
Vučić said that the military demands large funds, 700 million euros a year, in addition to an eight-percent salary increase, but that he did not make any promises until comprehensive analyses have been done in a month’s time.
Vučić said that answering the question whether he received the list of wishes of the military leadership, what the army could get to modernize and whether there is money for that, and added that he would meet the demands, but not to such an extent.
When asked whether he had received a wish list from the military management, what the armed forces could get to modernize and whether there was money for that, he said that he would meet the demands, but not to such an extent.
"The demands of the armed forces are justified, because they make strategic decisions about what to monitor in the region and the world, and they know how strong they need to be, and what service branches should be invested in," Vučić said.
Vučić added that large funds are needed to bring about a huge strengthening of the Serbian Armed Forces, and announced that he expects the Minister of Finance, Siniša Mali, to come to Niš to consider it. Vučić also emphasized that the military budget must not jeopardize the "Serbia 2025" plan, or the percentage of public debt to GDP.
“The military budget will be huge compared to most in the region, but not all," Vučić said, noting that some wealthier countries are buying more weapons, such as Hungary.
Vučić said that both Romania and Croatia are strengthening their armed forces, and that Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija are investing more, which is a small amount of money compared to Serbia, but that nothing should be underestimated.
Vučić said that the armed forces could demand a billion euros a year and see where that was going, given the growing needs and the number of weapons purchased globally.
