28.11.2010.
Minister's interview to Press
NIKOLIC NOT AN ALTERNATIVE
Today Nikolic Karic, Ilic and Vulin gathered to criticize the Government, and they all had as much participation in the power and bear huge responsibility that Serbia today is not as good as its neighbouring countries.
Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac says that nobody's statement can shake his confidence in the army, which is now the most serious military force in the region. He argues that the Democratic Party after the party elections will emerge even stronger and reveals that his political role models are Kemal Pasha Ataturk and Vuk Karadzic.
This is because we have reformed this country at the least popular of moments. So our question to the referendum whether Serbia should join the NATO is as follows:
- If Vuk Karadzic had gone on a referendum on spelling, we would not have a modern alphabet today. And because of the strategically important issues we can not make decisions in an atmosphere of general high-strung incendiary rhetoric.
Think it is natural to Serbia to join?
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I think it is unnatural to isolate Serbia in any way –in terms of security, political or economic.At the NATO Summit in Lisbon, Serbia has been praised for its progress in Euro-Atlantic integrations? And then the President said that Serbia had no intention to join NATO. Who is wrong there, Brussels or those in the Serbian Government?
- That is a wrong assumption there. Euro-Atlantic integrations have been going on since 2006, when we entered the Partnership for Peace, and a few weeks ago we established our delegation in Brussels. We work in accordance with the decisions and do the best to benefit everyone.
Do we get jobs in arms exports after such attitudes?
- There are a number of preconditions to meet in order to get a job in defense industry. The fact is that the product of a defense industry is a "political product" and that it generally needs to have political support. We first met with the directors of factories and trade unions three years ago and made a plan for visits. Since then I have visited Baghdad three times to promote both past and future. We have an excellent value for money with respect the deadlines. However political support is crucial.
Is American support crucial for Iraq?
- In addition to political support and traditional relationships, personal relationship of the president, prime minister, ministers, and often our officers as important as well.
Why a sudden increase in the rating of the institution you lead, does not match your personal rating?
-If I had been concerned solely with garnering popularity, I would not have taken up this position. My goal was that the army and military industry should be restored to their former glory and become serious and solid pillars of our state. Therefore I believe that the results of public opinion polls cannot neglect this fact. I do not know of such cases where the army wins a battle but the captain loses. So it's more than obvious to me that there is a system error in a computer that extracts the results.
Who is your political idol?
- I have no idols, I appreciate everyone who has the energy, vision, courage and leadership potential. In South Eastern Europe I appreciate the work of Kemal Ataturk, who managed to modernize his country in extremely difficult conditions.
What would a Serbian Ataturk have done?
-The era of Ataturk has long gone, of course. But if you ask me what the biggest problems are, it is the stabilization of political situation and the media image that would clearly present what is happening. This traditional stirring up of waters is done by those who do not see themselves as members of the modern world.
Who stirs up the water?
- It is disturbing when some politicians behave indifferently or even give support to things that are de facto wrong. For me, it is unnatural that after the events in Genoa absolutely everyone in the Parliament, the Government, the political scene, the cultural scene did stood up to say: "People, this is a catastrophe." How can anyone justify that? When the stadium booing other nations’ anthems, it's terrible. We have to do something to prevent that the measure of patriotism be whether someone is booing when another nation’s anthem is playing.
- What about gay pride? We did not hear your opinion on this?
- No matter what your attitude towards that matter is, if you do not want to provide support, should you not be interested. I think this is a norm of our civilization which makes it really inappropriate to attack them or the police. What worries me is the amount of negative energy and hatred displayed in the streets.
Maybe the problem is in our standard of living?
- I know what it is like to live in Serbia. My mother lives as a pensioner in Serbia, I talk to people who make ends meet, socialize with friends from college and high school, and I know that this is not the reason for violence and hatred. That is why Serbia needs a strong social democratic party.
Can Dsshift its course?
- No, I think that neither party nor the state should go in another direction since the way we tackled the national issues did not bring any good. On the contrary.
Are you sure of your vice-presidential position in the party?
- I believe I have the support of a sufficient number of delegates to be re-elected vice-president and would not really running that I am not convinced at that.
Is Vuk Jeremic the right-wing of DS?
- So it seems, but not there is confrontation between us. Our program is quite clear, although most of us are getting used tot eh fact that we belong to lefties as we had that decision less than a decade ago...
Is it still possible for an LDP scenario to take place so that, like Ceda Jovanovic, a National Democratic Party led by Vuk Jeremic becomes a faction and leaves the S?
- It is absolutely impossible. That is not an option, and no one is even talking about this, not even as a distant possibility.
Why have you not agreed on having seven vice-presidential places so everyone is happy?
- We must be aware that there is no such model in which the number of vice-presidential seats would change compared to the number of candidates. I have enough experience in this party that I can imagine how the party reacts, but then again I was not born with a right to this chair. On several occasions I lost the elections, even and 2000 because I supported Zoran Djindjic ...
Why did the president say that these elections will pave and set the course of Serbia for the next ten years?
- Because it is always so when DS has elections. After this election we expect even better results next year, a historical fact is that the next government would be the first democratic government during which term the EU would be "within reach".
And what would the Serbian Government with Toma Nikolic as prime Minister look like?
- I find it very interesting how the media promote Toma Nikolic an alternative, although we all know that he was in power and is therefore responsible that today's Serbia is not doing as well as its neighbours. I would like to see a someone else on the other hand, someone younger, someone who would give us some momentum, because it is a big problem in Serbia not to have a competitive opposition. Today Nikolic Karic, Ilic and Vulin gathered to criticize the Government, and they all had as much participation in government and an equal opportunity as members of JUL, New Serbia, The Radical party to do something.
But, nevertheless, realistically speaking Tomislav Nikolic was least in power.
- But this means that his result was historically the worst
NO NEIGHBOURING MILITARY COULD DEFEAT OUR ARMY
How do you react to the actor Peter Bozovic’s statement published on the cover of a prestigious paper that our "military is weaker than the Hunters’ Association?"
- Nobody's statement can shake my confidence in the work I do, much less a statement of someone who said it, in quotation marks, in a charming style. Objectively, our troops are in the former Yugoslavia region were the most serious military force, and in the region, after Romania, and the greatest.
Before we said that our army was the third largest and most powerful in Europe, then Sloveian separatists broke it ? Who could break us today?
- It was not the Slovenian territorials who broke the army, but the state collapsed, and therefore its army. Today there is no army in the region that could break us."
What is the main difference between today's Army and the JNA?
- Today we have a compact state and compact army. Today's priority is professionalism, since in the modern world one professional is worth four recruits. This indicates that this year we have more power than we had years ago.
And what about the national part? In World War I, the Austria-Hungary attacked the Serbian army seven to one and lost the first battle, and then we were invaded by Germany in World War II from two to one and Belgrade lost only one soldier.
- To attack a country, a country should have a minimum of three times more soldiers than we have today. It is the fact that we won the battle of Cer, but also the fact remains that in seven days we lost 16,000 people.
Veljko Lalic
DS can not go the right ... Here, in the party we are still getting accustomed to the fact that we are the party of the Left.
Salaries in the level of lieutenant colonel
Defense Minister says that is unnatural for someone who is responsible for a system not to have the highest salary and reveals that in the Ministry of Defence he does not come even among the 300 best paid.
The Chief of Staff has a higher salary than you?
- All the generals have higher salaries than me.
You are, therefore, at the level of colonel?
- I am in the level of lieutenant colonel who hasn’t resolved his housing issue.
THE PRIME MINISTER WOULD HAVE A DIFFICULT JOB
As the current discussion is to increase the officials’ salaries, why not introduce bonuses, so that the Minister gets his salary reduced when 100,000 people lose their jobs, and you get a reward for a job in Africa.
- Tat is what we are trying to do at the Military Academy. There would be a zero value that everyone can receive, others who show motivation will get a bonus. I do not know whether such a model exists in the world, and I think it would not be a bad idea. Now, who would evaluate these officers? Probably the Prime Minister, which would be a difficult job for him ...
THE SECRET OF TWO GENERALS
Are we near the completion of cooperation with the tribunal in the Hague? What do they say to your statements?
- I do not know when this will happen, I'm not a member of the action team. My contribution to the agency under my control is to enable them to do their work properly, and in the last few years, they have had my support.
The two most obvious well kept secrets of the Military Security Agency are the whereabouts of the two generals. What have you done to detect the location where General Mihailovic was shot? And why isn’t the military not aware of it?
- I would like to find his grave because the time has come for final reconciliation and for restoring his previous glory I do not know about the military’s awareness of him, but in a military sense, he received most awards, for successful completion of the operation Halyard, the largest American pilots rescue operation.
CONTRACTORS GO TO AFRICA TOO
What does the 400 million USD worth contract to build three plants in North Africa entail?
- I cannot reveal that. I can only say that we worked on that contract over two years with the support of the President of Serbia and President of that country. We will hire a large part of the capacity of our factories, but also our brains, because the engineers are working on this as well, which is a novelty. We also expect another expansion of the contracts to engage the construction industry, which will boost the entire investment to increase by another 60 million EUR.
