27.12.2010.
Interview of Minister Sutanovac to "Akter"
I believe that the greatest risk is not to take any risks, and tat avoiding changes means avoiding responsibility. My personal opinion is that Serbia lost so much in 1990s that we stand no chance of joining EU unless we take major leaps ahead. I am also aware that we bear a large burden of responsibility and that there are Euro-skeptics who would rather that the reforms did not succeed, and to take us back into older times, but I am certain that these reforms are absolutely necessary.We are a Democratic Party and we have multiple candidates for various positions. To become a vice president of a party takes courage, but I do not believe that is the reason to make some necessary changes. He was one of those who had the courage to run for this position, but someone had to be elected after all, therefore, I do not think that this would reflect his career as the Minister of Foreign. This is how Minister of Defense Dragan Sutanovac, a reelected vice president of DS comments the candidacy for this position of Vuk Jeremic, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia.
He states that he had no knowledge if Jeremic was advised to run for the position, or took this against him, but that he sees nothing bad in the fact that he lost the position, as “this is something that had happened to every vice president years ago, even to home”.
Have you ever thought that you might not be elected as vice president????? ???
Even though I have been the minister of defense for the past three years, I had no doubts that I would be re elected. When you become sort of detached from the party and lose all contact with it then the relations change and the attitude of the party towards you changes as well, nevertheless I am satisfied with the results and I believe that the party has much respect for what I have done for the state, because everything that is good for the state is good for the country.
Did you have an election HQ of your own, as your colleague Vuk Jeremic did?
No, I did not. This is the first time that I have run for this position without an election HQ, I even did not have time to travel round Serbia as I was busy with finalizing the process of professionalization. I am certain that this was actually an acknowledge,nt for what I have done for the army.
Why is it important who the vice president of DS is going to be?
It is, predominantly, because a democratic process is being carried out within the party, which other parties do not seem to recognize. There is no campaign within the party to elect people for certain positions, but rather they are appointed by a decree, our society is not used to democratic processes. When there is only one candidate then they say it is not democratic, when there are two of them then there are two factions.
It takes time getting used to this.
People usually say that after presidential in DS a new faction crops up or another new party. Is there any chance that Vuk Jeremic will do so?
I have no expectations regarding this, on the contrary. I believe that both those not elected and those who got elected would have to their best, given that we are looking ahead of the election year which will be crucial for presenting everything we are going to do in that year, therefore I d not expect any forming of new parties as that would damage that politician.
Are thee at all any factions in the party?
No, there are not. People in our party have different opinions, but thee is no one midedness, and if your questions means if our party is divided somehow I resolutely state that it is not, but that we all think the same, that is not true, and this is what makes us a Democratic Party.
After the session of your party there were comments that thee was only one candidate for the position of the party president and one more for the vice-presidential position. That is actually one midendness, is it not, and a lack of democracy?That is a big fallacy. There are few parties in the world which have changed their leadership while still in power, that is, when it won the elections. DS currently has the largest support among the citizens of Serbia and any change would potentially pose a problem. The fact that such comments are given so freely only bespeaks of the fact that our people don’t really know what democracy in the world means. The leader of a party changes when the citizens’ trust and support to the party plummets. DS is stable and is increasingly more garnering the support of our citizens. There are those who wish to see some sort of a conflict and possible rift in the party but I can assure you that there is no such thing.
1200 FLATS FOR SOLDIERS
We are planning to boost our capacities of our defense industry in the coming year, as we do not have enough capacities for the needs of this market at this moment. In 2010 alone, 1200members of the army solved their existential issue, a housing issue, and during my term 3000 flats were built.
What changes will occur in the party and Serbia after your session, as there were such comments saying that after this last session nothing will ever be the same?
The resident came out with a clear programme a so called 20-20, with a clear idea in mind that the period 2010-2020 is the period of gradually reforming Serbia, in order to prepare Serbia as soon as 2016 to join the EU. We are of the opinion that this is a crucial step that Serbia must take in adopting the EU standards and system of values. I do not expect any dramatic shifts in the weeks to come and months or in the next year either, however, I do expect a stabilization of political situation in Serbia and for DS to remain as the main engine of reforms, which we hope to confirm in 2012.
The public has heard even names of some women mentioned as potential candidates for the vice president of DS with only Jelena Trivan remaining as a potential candidate What about Nada Kolundzija?
I did not take part in the election process in this way. The public has heard many names mentioned as potential candidates, even though they did not run for candidacy, but obviously there were better candidates who garnered support of the DS body, which does not exclude the possibility of others running for vice president in the coming period, as this is an ever changing cycle.
It seems that Belgrade got better chances?
Belgrade had two vice presidents for a very long time, unfortunately, with the death of Nenad Bogdanovic, Belgrade lost this other vice president, but let me remind you that he was the vice-president of the party in the previous period, so nothing new happened n DS. The new thing is that Dragan Djilas is now is Vice president but that was something to be expected.
On the day of your party’s session a historic moment occurred-the final class of conscripts took the pledge. After 127 years of conscript duty that a Serbian willingly or even unwillingly in some period signs up for the military this duty has been suspended?
»If there is a saying that a Serb gladly signs up for the army then that should not be an obligation. This decision opens up the right of choice for all the young people. If they want to volunteer for the army they are welcome to do so, if not, then thee is no need to join the army after all, because the system does not need unwilling soldiers.
Do you think that thee will be those who will join the army voluntarily?
Last year alone I have received several dozens of letters from persons complaining for being called to perform their duty to the country, however, I continue to receive mails saying that there are those interested in serving their duty in SAF. I believe that we will have young recruits interested in pursuing a military career. This was nothing new that we have thought of, as this is a concept that has existed long before in the world, and it is my personal belief that thee are enough young patriots in Serbia eager to learn something and to join the army voluntarily, which opens up the possibility of their development and climbing up the ladder in military profession.
Does the burden of the previous times lie heavy on your back?
Each reformer has leaves his mark, and anyone on this position should decide whether he should take responsibility for what they are doing. Of course it is easier to never change anything or to maintain the status quo, and let the evolution of things run their course but I am not that sort of a politician. The greatest risk is not to take any risks and that means avoiding taking responsibility for one’s actions. My personal opinion is that Serbia lost so much in 1990s that we stand no chance of joining EU unless we take major leaps ahead. I am also aware that we bear a large burden of responsibility and that there are Euroskeptics who would rather that the reforms did not succeed, and to take us back into older times, but I am certain that these reforms are absolutely necessary.
This is necessary for the young generations who used to run from the military obligation and in the period 2003-2010 alone we had more than 90000 youth serving the army in civilian structures.
Does this means that the reforms of the army have changed?
Unfortunately it does not. Even the best armies are constantly undergoing the process of reform. It is fine tuning of the army, however we must bear in mind that we have inherited such a burden in the past 20 years hat needs to be solved. We have completed a major part of the job, we have shifted systematically to a completely new organization, another form of serving military duty, we have turned to professionalization, but there remains much to be done still as the infrastructure is in a very poor condition. We have to modernize the army, change certain benefits within the Mod itself, solve standards, and housing issues.
When you were elected as the minister of defense you said that you son told you he’d rather be a minister of the police than the army. Do you believe you made a mistake by accepting this function?
I don’t thin so, as I believe that the results speak for themselves, on the one hand, and on the other hand it is my great pleasure to be working with people in mod. Our accomplishments have been recognized both home and abroad, and thanks to this job I was awarded several prizes and acknowledgments-of the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia, as well as for the best non commercial campaign and the award for the best reformer of the year which proves that we managed well, and that we do our best.
It used to be said that our army used to be the third most powerful military in Europe. How strong is it now?
Our junior representation was the first in the world in Chile, our country used to be on eof the most beautiful in the world, but that country is no more, and its army as well. Serbian army is smaller in size by several times than the army of ex Yugoslavia, just like the country. However, when we compare the Serbian Armed Forces with other armies in the region, is is greatly respected and esteemed, very powerful and god forbid should we test to see if it is the best. But I can assure yoy that it has received acclaims from all relevant factors, both in the region and beyond, and I am very pleased that we were credited with this trust through the highest number of visits to our ministry ever recorded.
Will you decrease budgetary allocations for the army now that it has to rely on recruits?
The budget will be somewhat highr than last year but the problem is that modernization cannot be covered with budgetary funds alone as there have been no serious procurements in years. The time has come to solve these 25-year old problems instead of prolonging them indefinitely.
Dick Marty’s report has put a spin on the old story on the suffering of serbs , a story noone had believed before.what is your comment on the fact that it appearaaed just when the election in Kosovo are drawing to a close and when Taci is abut to form a government?
This report has opened Pandora’s box sort to speak, and it has to be closed, we have to find some sort of closure. This story was doubted before and Serbian officials warned EU officials of the happenings in Kosovo. Finaly we have the report of an EU Council’s official and the competent bodies are now the ones to tackle this problem adequately. I pointed out to all the officials I talked to that the process of negotiations cannot start without finding out who were the ones who burned down Serbian monasteries, committed atrocities, all of which was taped. Unless both sides solve open issues we cannot start a process of reconciliation and start to have undertsnaidng for one another.
LAZAR, NORA, BUMBAR ARE TO BE SENT OFF THE WORLD
Our best quailuty is our ammo production of all sorts and calibers, there is “lazar”, an armored car, “nora” howitzer all done b NATO standards, as well as the new training plane ‘lasta” already in sale. We whould also mention “bumbar” an anti tank mine, and we are in the process of finalizing unmanned air crafts.
You opposed the referendum on entering the NATO
No, I did not, that is a wrong interpretation. All I said was that big things in a life of a politician and one people are not solved in referendums, especially in countries with unstable economies such as ours. I am against the Serbia wishing to put us back into the cocoon of past times, when nothing happened, where there would be few educated people using the Internet, with the rule of patriotic exhibitionism without any vision of the future. In this cocoon we would have our opinion on everything while sinking deeper and deeper in a sort of a quicksand. That is not the Serbia of leadership. The elected ones should take full respnisbility and my message was quite clear that I am ready to take full responsibility for anything I do wrong.
