SETimes.comProgress in Serbia-Montenegro’s Defence Reform
13/02/2006
Serbia-Montenegro has achieved concrete results in its bid to overhaul the country's defence system. The length of military service, as well as civilian service, has been reduced to save costs. Multiple agencies have been consolidated and placed under defence ministry control. Unnecessary military properties are being sold off. The legislative framework has been put in place for reform, setting forth the overall aim of building a modern, professional force that can contribute to regional stability and international peacekeeping missions. At the same time, reports of military involvement in concealing wanted war criminals have cast a shadow over the reform effort.
By Antonela Arhin for Southeast European Times – 13/02/06
Despite facing considerable difficulties, Serbia-Montenegro can boast concrete results in overhauling its defence system. In October 2005, the Council of Ministers adopted legislation shortening military service from 9 to 6 months, and civilian service from 13 to 9 months. Meanwhile, Serbia-Montenegro's armed forces are serving as peacekeepers in Burundi, Congo, Ivory Coast and Liberia, and will soon take on new missions.
The reductions in the period of service will help meet one of the most important challenges facing the army: the need to cut costs.
Certainly, the impact is dramatic. Because the new rules are being implemented retroactively, about a third of the army suddenly found themselves ready to leave the barracks. In November 2005, when the class of June went home, the country found itself left with only 8,000 trained soldiers. Shock therapy, perhaps, but there was little other choice, given the dire financial straits the military is in.
In addition to revenue shortfalls, Serbia-Montenegro faces the challenge of building a defence system that is fully under civil and democratic control. In recent years, allegations that elements in the military have been protecting wanted war criminals have led many to wonder whether the country's political institutions have sufficient authority over, or even full knowledge of, the activities of the armed forces. Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica's cabinet recently acknowledged that military personnel may have helped a top war crimes indictee, Ratko Mladic, escape justice. In a notorious 2004 case, two sentries were shot dead in mysterious circumstances -- possibly, some say, because they knew of the presence of a high-level war crimes indictee within a military facility.
Serbia-Montenegro will need to resolve such problems if it is to achieve its goal of integration into Euro-Atlantic structures. It must demonstrate that it is developing a professional, well-trained, interoperable force that is answerable to civilian authorities, observes the rule of law, and is capable of contributing to regional stability.
Some important steps have been taken in this regard. They include the establishment of a Centre for Peacekeeping Operations; the transfer of the Army's judiciary system to civilian courts; re-organisation of the defence ministry; and the consolidation of multiple, redundant agencies -- for example, the Intelligence Office and the Security Office have been transformed into the Military Intelligence Agency and the Military Security Agency, and both have been placed under the authority of the defence ministry. Assorted military schools have been disbanded, and a unified Military Academy created.
Another change is the appointment of a new director for the Fund for Defence System Reform. On 17 January, the Serbia-Montenegro Executive Council named Obren Joksimovic -- a senior Democratic Party of Serbia official and health minister in the late prime minister Zoran Djindjic’s government -- to the post. He replaces Vladan Zivulovic. Initiated by the Supreme Defence Council, the fund was founded in June 2004 with the aim of securing financial means to support the planned defence system reforms. In a statement following his appointment, Joksimovic pledged to assist the struggling Serbia-Montenegro Army move forward on the path of reform.
One of the tasks facing Joksimovic is the securing of funds needed to carry out the reform programme. One way is by selling off unnecessary military property. Varying estimates of the market value have been given -- according to the previous director, Zivulovic, it stands at about 1 billion euros. In all, the Fund has 512 military facilities in Serbia, including barracks, commanding headquarters, hotels, military airports and fuel stations. It has already sold ten military locations in Montenegro for a price of 15m euros, with the funds now under the control of the finance ministry.
A National Defence Strategy was adopted by the federal parliament on 18 November 2004. Together with the Basis for the Organisation of the Army of Serbia-Montenegro, it sets out the basic goals of defence reform -- namely, to build an efficient and economically viable defence system and a professional and modernised, equipped and trained Army. On 4 April 2005, the defence ministry elaborated on and updated these goals in a White Paper, setting forth the aim of increasing the capability for joint action for the sake of Serbia-Montenegro's collective security, while also fostering responsibility and transparency.
Currently, besides its traditional duties, the Army is taking on a role in two areas: internal security risks and peacekeeping missions. The Council of Ministers of Serbia-Montenegro on 11 August 2003 approved the participation of units and servicemen of the Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces of Serbia-Montenegro in the UN's peacekeeping operations and missions. At the session held on 8 October 2003, the Supreme Defence Council gave its approval to such participation.
The country now has peacekeepers in four countries, and that number is soon to become six. In January 2006, the go-ahead was given for Serbia-Montenegro armed forces personnel to join the UN Multinational Peacekeeping Operation in Sudan and the Peace Support Operation of the International Security Forces in Afghanistan.