10.02.2022.
Minister Stefanović on Pink TV's "Novo jutro" show
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Nebojša Stefanović, PhD, was a guest on Pink TV’s “Novo jutro” show, where he said that the Serbian Armed Forces had suffered devastating consequences of Zdravko Ponoš’s actions and that it had been extremely difficult to rebuild the armed forces, after thorough destruction brought about by the previous regime.
Responding to the journalist's statement that the armed forces had almost been disbanded at that time, Minister Stefanović said that our service members had had a very difficult time at that period.– I think that when you talk to people, officers, NCOs and soldiers, people who have dedicated their whole lives to the defence of the homeland, who live for the armed forces, you can see how incredibly difficult it was for them. When you watch someone reduce your strength day by day, when the most capable ones are leaving. But they did not leave of their own free will, they left because someone came one morning and said - you don’t exist anymore, you don't need to be here anymore, your units have been disbanded - said Minister Stefanović.
According to him, the previous government first reduced the number of personnel by 9,000 in the period from 2001 to 2004, and then 23,981 officers, non-commissioned officers and civilians left the armed forces in the period from 2005 to 2012.
– So, about 33,000 people were expelled from the armed forces at that time. Also, in 2005 alone, 466 people were let go from their jobs at the Military Technical Institute, which is the brains of the defence system when it comes to the development, where engineers and scientists work on the modernization of weapons. How are you going to bring back 466 engineers? We hired about ninety new people last year, we managed to provide reinforcements for the Military Technical Institute with great effort. And they fired 466 of them almost in one day and told those people - we don't need your knowledge anymore - said Minister Stefanović.
They disbanded heroic brigades that defended this country and offered T-72 tanks for sale
Speaking about the so-called achievements of Zdravko Ponoš, who was the Deputy Chief of Defence of the Armed Forces of Serbia and Montenegro at that time, and later the Chief of the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff, the Minister showed the decision adopted at that time to disband the 63rd Parachute Brigade and the 72nd Special Operations Brigade.
– Two heroic brigades that fiercely defended this country in the most difficult times. Well, they disbanded them, making battalions out of them, reducing them significantly from brigades to battalions. They reduced "Kobre", which were then a special operations detachment, to a battalion level unit. They did the same to the naval, i.e. river special operations units … In fact, they made one unit out of four in the end. When you dissolve a large unit and reduce it to a smaller one, you lose people, discharge them from the armed forces, and since it is now a battalion, you suddenly have a surplus of weapons created overnight. So, what do you do with the surplus, which was not really a surplus, but became one overnight by an administrative decision? Let's cut, destroy and sell now - said the Minister of Defence.
He referred to an advertisement published in 2007 when Zdravko Ponoš was the Chief of the General Staff.
– In addition to T-55 tanks that are often talked about, they also offered for sale rocket launchers, air defence launchers, but also 60 T-72 tanks at bargain prices! - Stefanović explained and added that the T-72 tanks were serious platforms that could be modernized, same as the T-72 MS tanks had been modernized.
According to the Minister, a unit is disbanded when the chief or deputy chief of the General Staff, which Zdravko Ponoš was at the time, sends a proposal to the decision-maker.
– So, the General Staff proposes the formation, transformation or a disbandment of a unit. So, Zdravko Ponoš, who was the Chief of the General Staff at that time, had to sit down and say "Yes, disband this unit. We don't need the 63rd Brigade anymore, we don't need the 72nd Brigade, we don't need the “Kobre” special operations detachment... He was the one who wrote down that proposal - said Stefanović.
He also noted that the 63rd Parachute Brigade and the 72nd Special Operations Brigade had been restored by the decision of the President of the Republic and the Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces, Aleksandar Vučić.
Shameful attitude towards retired generals
According to him, during the previous government, we did not have two airworthy aircraft.
– It can be seen from the interview that Zdravko Ponoš, as the then Chief of the General Staff, gave to the Croatian "Nacional" news magazine, that the armed forces were in an extremely difficult situation. The journalist says that “due to the shortage of financial resources for fuel, the Serbian Air Force and its pilots have not flown for a very long time, and there has been no training for quite some time. They are running low on technical resources. Are you getting any proposals to disband it?" You know, we came to the point where journalists, Croatian tabloids, I must use that word, made fun of the Serbian Armed Forces and its Air Force. They ask our Chief of the General Staff "are you planning to disband the Air Force, since you are not flying, you don't have any aircraft, you don't even have fuel?" Ponoš and the like did that to our armed forces - said Stefanović.
He also mentioned the shameful attitude of Ponoš, the then Chief of the General Staff, towards retired generals, expressed in interviews with the press.
– He says, "they just can't understand that they're no longer part of the defence system," "I can talk to those people, hear their opinions, but if they expect me to listen to them, they're wrong." But wait, what does that mean, I can talk to you, but I’m telling you in advance that what you say means nothing. Then he says, "If I could get some knowledge in the retired generals club, I would be sitting there." Since Ponoš is a retired general, that raises the question, what can we learn from him, since he claims that retired people no longer have any knowledge - said Minister Stefanović.
To the remark that American and other generals keep coming to Serbia, Ponoš replies that the public is not even aware of how present they are, but not as much as he would like, the Minister said.
– He says something even worse "whoever comes to Belgrade on a study trip has the opportunity to see the Military Academy, the Military Medical Academy and", listen to this, "to spend the night here and to look at the women living in this city". What does that mean? - Stefanović asked.
Early promotions and apartments
Answering the questions, the Minister confirmed that Ponoš had been given four extraordinary promotions in 1996, 2003, 2005 and 2006.
– He was promoted to the rank of colonel, major general and lieutenant general, year after year, and then became the chief of the General Staff, without having commanded a unit larger than a platoon. The platoon is made up of 30 soldiers, so he commanded 30 soldiers, he did not command a company, battalion, brigade, any joint force... - said Stefanović, stating that it was unprecedented that someone was promoted so many times in peacetime.
There has also been much public speculation about Ponoš' apartments. According to the Minister, Ponoš got a 53-square-metre apartment in New Belgrade in 1993, at the time when fierce fighting was taking place in his native Krajina, and in September 2009, he got a 91-square-metere apartment in Vračar. In order to buy it, the armed forces had to give up military land in Palilula, and Ponoš then bought it in 2010 for 1,384,000 dinars.
– That is a total of about fifteen thousand euros, and he paid for it, you won't believe this, in 480 instalments. Not 48, but 480 instalments of 3.604 dinars for a 91-square-metre apartment in Vračar - said the Minister.
According to Minister Stefanović, people in defence know very well who Zdravko Ponoš is and you can often hear them say that during his command of the General Staff, he destroyed the Armed Forces worse than NATO missiles. Speaking about his military career, the Minister said, Ponoš gains in popularity today, but that does not change the fact that the consequences of his actions in the General Staff were scandalous.
– Thanks to the enormous efforts of President Vučić from 2012 until today, the economy of this country is getting stronger and we are restoring our armed forces to their original splendour. Four Mi-35 combat helicopters, five Mi-17 transport helicopters, five H-145M Airbus helicopters, six CH-92 drones, Pantsir S1, thirty modernized T72M tanks ... - said the Minister, emphasizing that unlike Ponoš and the like who were destroying our armed forces, Serbia is strengthening them today.
