27.03.2010.
Interview with Minister Šutanovac in “Dnevnik” daily
-Serbia has no chance on the European path without facing problems in the country – and seriously organized crime is a problem that erodes our society not allowing it to go ahead – Dragan Šutanovac, Minister of Defence the and the Democratic Party Vice-President said in an interview for “Dnevnik” daily, providing answers to the most important issues the state, the Democratic Party, and the defence system are to face with.
President Boris Tadic announced the war on organized crime. Does the state have power to do that?
- I am completely convinced that President Tadic, as always, stands behind his words.
Do you think that the President and the top management of the state, considering all the threats that have occurred, are threatened by people from the chain of organized crime?
- We must have a serious approach to this problem because we have a very bad experience. We do not leave to chance anything that could destabilize the country and threaten the security of state officials.
What are the other security challenges in Serbia?
- I think that the main challenges are in organized crime. From the standpoint of defence Serbia is not at security risk, there is no military threat, but it has been for ten years that we have tension in the Southern Serbia and Kosovo and Metohija. We do not consider all the risks related to Kosovo and Metohija eliminated so we behave as if they are not, but we have no indicators of possible serious conflicts.
What is the role of the military and security agencies in assisting BIA and the police?
- The role of Military Security Agency is, above all, in combating crime in the Ministry of Defence and according to them, it has been the third year that we do not have any affair shaking the Ministry or any extraordinary event that has not been resolved. The Military Security Agency is the one that has merits for such situation.
Is it likely that the reform and professionalization of the Armed Forces will be jeopardised by the current economic crisis and budget deficit?
- Next year at this time we will have professional armed forces and the process will be completed with the given budget, which amounts to less than 2.4 percent of GDP as planned in the Memorandum of the Government, accounting for 2.15 percent of GDP. Reform moves that do not require much money have already been made. If reform means a comprehensive system changes and modernization of armament and military equipment, this is ahead of us. This will require a lot of money because noting has been done to that end in the last two – two and a half decades. In the past year and this year a few armies in the world initiated any modernization because of the economic crisis, but also, a few of them are in a situation as we are, that they fought so many years and spent the resources. There is no upper financial limit for the needs, but we must go for purchasing what is really essential. Whatever money you have for purchasing military equipment, weapons, modern technologies, modern systems – it can all be spent because only one aircraft may cost from 30 to more than 100 million euros.
Who will you be oriented to for that procurement: to Russia, China, NATO countries ...?
- Most countries in the world, regardless of whether they are NATO members or not, have the standards established by the Alliance. Even much of the weapons produced by the Russian military industry has NATO standard. For example, elements produced in NATO countries are built in the part of Russian weapons and military aircraft. Products of defence industry, it should be said, are also political products. But we certainly will not be able to buy what is the most expensive because we will not have enough money for the quantity of equipment we need, so we will have to balance between policy and needs. As for the suppliers, the experts must give the answer.
Where have we exported our armaments and have we made any profit?
- At the moment Serbia is the absolute leader in the Balkans regarding the export of armaments and military equipment. I expect this spring the first billion dollar contract concerning export of arms and military equipment to be signed. In the last two years we returned to the world scene of exporters. We have achieved such success that we surprised much bigger countries and companies producing weapons and military equipment. Our market is literally all the world, from North and South America to Indonesia, but the largest ones at the moment are the North Africa and the Middle East, Iraq and Algeria, and we expect agreements with Kuwait, Egypt, Libya. These are the countries with which we have traditionally good experience and, with a very efficient political activity of the Ministry of Defence we will also ensure new contracts rounding up the first billion dollars, which has been my goal ever since I became a Minister of Defence.
How is the cooperation with NATO being realised within the framework of the current government policy of the neutrality of Serbia?
- It is realised primarily through the “Partnership for Peace” programme because Serbia has not yet run at full capacities of that cooperation. We are also to open the office at NATO headquarters in Brussels. However, within the “Partnership for Peace” there is plenty of room for cooperation, not only in the field of defence but also energy security, medicine, science ...
When can you expect a more active presence of Serbia in peacekeeping missions around the world?
- We are currently present in four missions, and we are discussing the participation in three more.
How would you comment the attitude of the leader of the Serbian Renewal Movement Vuk Draskovic that the membership of NATO leads Serbia to the EU?
- In my capacity of a Defence Minister I respect the given framework for cooperation, i.e. I am managing the Ministry in line with the decisions of the Government and the Parliament of Serbia. I did not have chance to hear anyone imposing the condition of joining NATO for the Serbia’s European path. Let me remind you that Cyprus is not a member of NATO either and has become the New EU Member since recently. However, the fact is that we will have to promote our relations with NATO towards becoming an advanced participant in the “Partnership for Peace” Programme within the security standards of the European Union, as does Austria.
How far did you go in centralization of the Democratic Party which has been announced by President Tadic, and what does it mean specifically?
- The Democratic Party participates in governing great number of municipalities as well as the Government, and there is the need that the messages and the politics are defined in one place democratically elected by the party. The centralization in an antidemocratic manner is unacceptable, and no one said that. Unfortunately, as I can see, this is exactly the only thing that has been imposed in the media and presented to the public in a completely wrong way. Boris Tadi? is a big Democrat and would never allow the party to lose its democratic character.
At a meeting of the Main Board of the Democratic Party, the President Tadic said that if this were the case there would not be the situation like the one related to the Statute of Vojvodina. Is it perhaps a sort of a response to the provincial leadership?
- The message was more than clear: we all have to work on the basis of the decision of the party’s bodies, both the President, and the Presidency of the Democratic Party. The adopted policy and the decisions of the Party’s bodies are binding for all, as it was before. So, there is nothing to do with the Statute, Vojvodina and Novi Sad.
What will be The Central point of the forthcoming Assembly of the Democratic Party?
- I think that there will be absolute unity in the desire to change Serbia and to implement the programme in every level of authority we exercise. I have no dilemmas that the Democratic Party today is the backbone of our society and that without the Democratic Party we would not have the strength to join the EU. The Assembly of the Democratic Party will show strength, unity and solidarity in order to finish this job.
NO DISCREPANCIES IN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY
Are there any discrepancies between the leadership of the Democratic Party in Novi Sad and the central office in Belgrade?
- There is no discrepancies within the Democratic Party. The fact is that the Democratic Party has its own democratic procedures, which have been in force for full two decades and are still interesting to the public, because the other parties are centralized insomuch that even the officials are decided upon in the party president's cabinet. The Democratic Party had the strength to elect its leadership even when facing the biggest problems and always on the basis of democratic principles to promote the values it represents. To put it simply, there are different views in the Democratic Party, not conflicts.
I WILL ACCEPT THE CANDIDACY FOR VICE-PRESIDENT
Vice-President of the Democratic Party Bojan Pajti? said he would run again for that position. Will you do the same?
- I have never declared myself as a Democratic Party Vice-Presidential Candidate. But if sufficient number of boards declares me so, I will accept it with pleasure. It is my favourite position. Today, the Serbian Government has 25 ministers, and only one of them is also the Vice-President of the Democratic Party.
