04.09.2010.
Minister's interview to Press
Interview of Minister Sutanovac to daily''PRESS''
No one is a traitor Kosovo-wise
The moment has come when we must dedicate ourselves especially to citizens who live in Kosovo and Metohija, as are those most vulnerable and without any political battle is losing the essential meaning.
Defense Minister and Vice President of DS Dragan Sutanovac says to the daily paper “Press” that in order to solve the problems of Kosovo and Metohija, our priority should be the issues concerning the life of citizens on Kosovo today .
- The problem of Kosovo can not be solved in one year, at a meeting of the Security Council or General Assembly. Unfortunately, it is a historically difficult issue, and is the result of post-war policy of the regime who prohibited the return of Serbian families in Kosovo.
In your opinion, what went wrong in solving the Kosovo issue? - To a lesser or greater extent, the Serbian approach to solving the problem focused on insisting to preserve the territorial integrity, without taking into account the real needs of the citizens. This is the region which is underdeveloped both economically and is also undereducated, this mixed with traditional nationalism propelled the system of values into a completely wrong direction. This is the moment when we must all take care of the citizens in Kosovo because they are losing them renders all political struggle to preserve sovereignty futile.
We have sold impressive amounts of weapons
- This year is very important in the field of international cooperation in the field of defense and of course a visit to China was a positive signal in our bilateral military cooperation and the overall cooperation between the two countries. China is interested in cooperation in the field of education, the military-medical cooperation and providing relief to the civilians in cases of natural disasters. Furthermore, Serbia has for the third time received a500.000 EUR worth of IT equipment. Our cooperation with Iraq, Algeria and Libya has also been very good. We trained a number of Iraqi and Algerian officers, we are selling impressive quantity of weapons and equipment, and Iraq is one of the most important partners in the military economy of Serbia. An important part of cooperation is certainly the field of military education. Soon we expect to sign a contract on training more officers from Libya. We have made visits to many countries , EU institutions, and we expect to re-visit to Brussels and the U.S..
We have so far exported arms and military equipment?
- Soon we will post the latest information. A few years ago we had a problem of placement of goods, but now the problem is that the maximum capacity of certain factories has been used, with demand being far greater than the capacities. This raises the issue of making new investments in these factories so they can comply with all the contracts. These days the Prime Minister and relevant ministers are trying to find ways to expand plant capacities particularly in Uzice, Cacak, Lucani and Valjevo.
It seems that this stance on Kosovo is not in accordance with the policy of your party?
- It is absolutely in line with the policy of DS. Recognition of Kosovo's independence is unacceptable for us! But at the same time we must look for solutions within the given coordinates that are becoming more limited as the time goes by. We must look for a solution that is economically sustainable unless we want people to emigrate because they have no future for life in Kosovo.
Tomislav Nikolic accused the DS of making him a traitor who would rather recognize Kosovo’s independence and that he had said so at the meeting with Westerwele?
- Malicious would say that at the meeting he spoke submissively and in a servile manner which is unacceptable from the standpoint of Serbian nationalists, however I would think he had a pragmatic approach and explained the real European attitude of SNS. None of the participants of the meeting did not sway from the state policy on Kosovo. When we speak about Kosovo I would never call anyone a traitor.
It seems that you have softened your rhetoric towards Nikolic?
- I believe that Kosovo is an issue which requires the minimum of consensus. I have the same opinion of Nikolic as before. I still to what the radicals who know him best say about him. I do not have a high opinion of those who take an oath of loyalty and betrayal, only to betray this same oath a few months later.
Is the coalition of DS and the SNS at all possible after elections, whenever they may be?
- The government has the capacity to retain this constitution. SNS has a major problem, and that is its orientation, as I have not had the opportunity to hear what they really have to offer. To criticize cooperation with the EU and NATO, and at the same time to insist on being involved in writing the Kosovo Resolution is just bizarre!
The question remains whether the NATO may be the last international organization stopping Serbia from entering it, since Eu seems to be further from our reach?
- Serbia has a very small number of difficult decisions that must be taken in order to shape its own socio-political situation, and one of them is the stance towards NATO. It is not a military alliance but a political-military alliance that has very great impact in the world. NATO is an alliance of the most developed and most modern countries in the world and Serbia should forge closer relations with the alliance. After all, had we defined better our relations with the NATO in the early 90's, I am convinced that the entire history of the Balkans, especially Serbia, would be significantly different, and would have taken a more positive turn.
Does the phrase "stronger relations" mean membership?
- At this point it is not realistic to talk about membership to the NATO. The key is to show that Serbia is ready to cooperate with NATO in the common interest, especially to use all the capacities of the Partnership for Peace.
A politician should be like a good dentist
How much populism can you find in politics today?
-It is the same as everywhere. But populism, except for its short-lived support, does not contribute to the progress and development of the state and the individual. I have said this on a number of occasions, had Kemal Pasha Ataturk called a referendum on changing the official alphabet in Turkey, he would never have won and that decision swayed the development of modern Turkey? Serbs proclaimed Vuk Karadzic a German spy, a local traitor and were against his reform of the Serbian language and letter that is today celebrated as the best in the world! Populism in politics can often take you down the garden path. For me, a politician is essentially a good dentist to his patients makes them happy only after he has performed an intervention And, while the intervention lasts, everyone would rise from the chair if they could and head for the door.
.
And did this cooperation mean sending our troops to Afghanistan?
- The army of Serbia must be prepared to participate in all peacekeeping missions in the world. The task of the Ministry of Defense is to make sure that the military is equipped and trained to meet their legal obligations and protect the interests of the citizens wherever this may be needed, but whether they will participate is not up to the minister. At a time when the Army took part in the mission in Sinai, our foreign policy influence had reached its peak.
You have abolished conscript duty as of New Year, what are the reactions of parents?
- Those who always mention Serbian tradition and the Serbian military will probably not know that the compulsory military service was not introduced in Serbia until the late 19th century. Even after the abolition of compulsory military service, all those who want to serve in the army, can apply, and undergo training. Also, professional militaries have proven to be more efficient and even cheaper than traditional recruiting composition. Professionalization of the military is currently being implemented in many countries, has been recently completed in Sweden, Germany has announced the introduction of semiprofessional system, Turkey as well. The whole world wants a system that will be professional able to adequately tackle all risks and threats.
I would swap the run-down buildings for the Banjica compund
What will you do with the destroyed buildings in the center of Belgrade?
- My attitude is that the military property is he heirloom, of the ministry of defense and of Serbia in general , and this is why I do not want to sell it for pittance. That's what I have demonstrated for the past three years. The idea is to exchange the run-down building of the old HQ Kneza Milos for an adequate building in the area of the MMA where both SAF GS and MoD would be integrated. I believe that we can sway the public to open two large construction sites that would employ construction industry in Serbia without any further investments.
You gave the compound housing barracks "4 July", to the Building Directorate of Serbia which will build 5000 apartments there. Can other physical persons ask for similar military compounds?
We did not give this land away, but we exchanged it for the 21 percent of residential areas plus certain funds as compensation. Any company wishing to build under these conditions can file a request.
We have needs for housing, not only in Belgrade, but in all towns in Serbia.
