Anušić: Rhetoric from Serbia is worrying

The rhetoric from countries that Croatia borders, but are not members of the European Union or NATO and do not want to be, is "worrying", said Croatian Defense Minister Ivan Anušić in Zagreb on Monday, highlighting Serbia in this context, which he said now has serious offensive systems.

“The constant rhetoric from these countries is worrying. According to the information we have, Serbia currently has serious offensive systems that are extremely complex, expensive and have been acquiring them for four, five or six years,” Minister Ivan Anušić said at a conference on the European defense industry at the Westin Hotel in Zagreb.

The only two countries bordering Croatia that are not members of the EU or NATO are Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“Official Belgrade still intends to continue purchasing weapons that could be extremely dangerous if used,” Anušić added at the conference titled "A New Era of European Security: Strategy, Joint Investments and Industry" organized by the European Parliament Office in Croatia.

“Serbia is re-introducing conscription,” Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić announced in late January, saying he was concerned about the alleged formation of military alliances against Serbia, apparently alluding to military cooperation between Croatia, Albania and Kosovo.

He added that the defense capacities of the air force and air defense have been "drastically and dramatically" increased.

Anušić admitted that he did not know the motives behind this process of arming Serbia and that he did not want to speculate, but that the issue of defense should not be viewed as something unnecessary because one can count on the protection of a third country.

“We must prepare to protect our borders, living space and people,” he said.

“Similarly, Europe must urgently change the way it functions when it comes to defense and security, because so far it has invested in civilian infrastructure, the development of civil society, agriculture and the economy, or everything that did not directly affect defense,” Anušić believes.

Anušić: Europe is late in defending its eastern borders

Also, Europe must approach the issue of defense, and especially the defense of its eastern borders, as a single entity, adding that it is very late in doing so, he said.

“All countries on the eastern borders of the EU or NATO should have special treatment in financing weapons and equipment because they may be the next to be targeted and probably tested (to see) how ready NATO is to defend its borders,” Anušić said.

He explained that he was primarily referring to the Baltic countries, Finland and Romania, but also to Croatia, which borders countries in the southeast that are not in NATO and do not want to be.

“We are very late and have difficulty reaching conclusions. We have difficulty making decisions like Europe in general. We are late, that is for sure. We can only thank God and the Ukrainian soldiers and people for managing to keep the Russians away from the EU borders for four years,” he said.

“Europe managed to protect itself not thanks to its ability and political determination and quality decisions, but thanks to the courage and ability of Ukraine to resist the invasion,” added the minister.

He stressed that the situation in Ukraine is a lesson for Europe and that it must wake up.

He admitted that his speech may seem too dark, but he argued that if the conversation had been like this in 2014, when the first signs of today's problems appeared, namely the Russian annexation of Crimea, "we would not have had even one percent of these headaches".

In the context of strengthening Croatia's defense capabilities and cooperation with partners, Goran Basarac and Željana Zovko emphasized the role of the domestic military industry.

“We have certain large purchases such as Leopard, Tatra and CAESAR. These are systems that Croatia does not produce and we are looking for help from partners in this. However, in the production of small arms, rifles, pistols and ballistic helmets - we have something to offer,” said Goran Basarac, President of the Board of the Alan Agency.

“I am continuously working to ensure that the Croatian military industry participates with medium and small enterprises in a part of the huge pie of funds available for the defense industry,” added Željana Zovko, Member of the European Parliament.

Source: HRT