27.06.2022.
Minister Stefanović Our job is not to be liked by someone, but to protect Serbia and the interests of our people
Today, addressing the attenders of 11th Class of the Advanced Security and Defence Studies and 65th Class of General Staff Course, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Nebojša Stefanović PhD stated that once you opt for military neutrality, independence and to make your decisions autonomously, there is always going to be someone who will not like it. “Our job is not to be liked by someone, but to protect Serbia and the interests of our people”, said Minister Stefanović.
He reminded that global political and security situation changes faster than ever, and that in the world, which is in a way being restructured, almost all current topics are becoming of great significance for defence as well.
- Once we had more rigid lines where defence and security were considered in narrower frameworks and one was able to separate them from food and energy sources. Today, as you can see, that is absolutely impossible, and each of these aspects impacts the defence of a country in different ways. Global changes, from migration, through climate change to social inequalities, will certainly be an important factor in the future, which will influence the distribution of resources - Stefanović said, reminding of the current significance of fossil fuels, and of the continuous growing significance of new, high technologies.
Among other, the minister of defence reminded of the strategic foreign policy orientation of Serbia towards full EU membership.
- Currently, it is facing a range of security threats and we are aware that it has not always adequately responded to each of those threats, starting from the migrant crisis, crisis caused by Covid virus, to, of course, the conflict between the Russian Federation and Ukraine. Each of those big crises has revealed certain cracks in the responses that the European Union has given as a whole, where, practically all member states had different views and often opted with different intensity to make those responses the way very European Union suggested them - the minister said.
He also reminded that, besides the fact that the majority of EU member states are at the same time NATO members, lately, we have witnessed that many of them make decisions about investing huge money in defence, and he instanced Germany which, apart from a great military budget, is to allocate additional 100 billion Euro for the procurement and modernisation of its military and for the procurements from defence industry.
- The strategic advantage of the Republic of Serbia is our own defence industry. Today, that defence industry has sufficient resources to be able to appropriately modernise, overhaul, equip, and produce everything that is required to maintain the level of capabilities of the Serbian Armed Forces at an enviable level - the minister said.
However, having in mind that in today’s world military capacities are ever more built jointly, the minister assessed that Serbia certainly should get involved in projects of defence industries of certain developed countries in the European Union, such as Spain which, as he reminded, has not recognised the so-called Kosovo.
- This would ensure that our armed forces, our institutes and scientists keep up with the modern world, and it would prevent us from working next 10 or 20 years with technologies from the previous centuries - Stefanović stated.
As regards regional issues, Stefanović established that the orientation towards the path of European integration of all regional states has created space for new forms of cooperation.
- It has created room for the development of the region and projects such as the “Open Balkans”, which practically enable us to be ready to join the European Union, by working on the development of our mutual ties and strengthening of our economies despite all our differences. That is one of the positive trends that are taking place in our region, which definitely functions as the system of connected vessels. If there is no stability in one of the countries of the region, there will be no stable region as well. Potential investors always perceive the region as a whole, and that is why it is important for each state in it to give its contribution to that stability, since it is the only way in which we can ensure economic progress and growth, and, consequently, a better quality of life for the people living in these parts - the minister said estimating that notwithstanding great EU financial support provided through different projects, the European integration of the regional states sadly lasts too long which is a discouraging challenge.
He underlined that our country is militarily neutral which implies that Serbia is not joining today, or in the future, any military alliance with others, but that it does not exclude cooperation, or political neutrality.
- Of course, we are aware that further military conflicts taking place in the territory of Ukraine will definitely influence additional pressure being exerted on the Republic of Serbia, but we are strongly intent on maintaining the course of the military neutrality - Stefanović stated.
He also reminded of the decision of Serbia not to impose sanctions on the Russian Federation and of Russia’s continuous support to our territorial integrity and sovereignty.
- Our job is to fight in all international institutions to protect the territorial integrity of our country, to strive to make everybody understand our position, and insist that honouring international law must not be a matter of political moment, or whether someone likes a country or not. If it is honoured like we respect the territorial integrity of Ukraine, just like we quite clearly opted for honouring international law in that particular case, then we insist on applying such respect for international law in case of Serbia and on respecting our territorial integrity - the minister said.
Speaking about the equipment of our armed forces, Minister Stefanović pointed out that, unfortunately, after a period of extreme lack of investment, it is necessary to allocate huge amount of money in order to restore everything that was not renewed, maintained, purchased, but he also pointed out that Serbia invests in its armed forces at present. According to his assessment, the competence of members of the armed forces is at very high level.
- It is not just my assessment. It is the evaluation of all international partners who encounter our soldiers. When you have an opportunity to train your men, to arm them with the state-of-the-art arms and good technology, that increases the morale of those men and then, of course, you have armed forces capable of appropriately defending their country and being a deterring factor that will prevent any conflict from occurring. Today, they are equipped with the state-of-the-art assets, and in this segment we have to keep up with modern trends. For the most part, the world has turned to robotics, unmanned vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles, artificial intelligence and I have had an opportunity to see it recently at a military exhibition in Paris - the minister said.
He reminded that the economic strengthening of our country has brought about a tougher competition for the personnel.
- It has brought about a great number of economic subjects who offer considerably higher salaries and they compete with us in attracting the young, which made the recruitment of professional soldiers harder. That is not the case only in our country, and it happens in other countries - the minister explained.
He stated that we will continue enhancing the standard of living of members of the Ministry of Defence and Serbian Armed Forces, and the state model of housing that was initiated by President Vučić.
Representatives of organisational units of the University of Defence, lecturers and scientists, headed by the Rector, Lieutenant General Goran Radovanović PhD, thanked Minister Stefanović at the end of his today’s address to the attenders and presented him with appropriate gifts, books from the field of scientific literature.
