Journalists from RTS and other regime television stations ask after the end parade citizens whom they "accidentally" encountered, as well as the guests in the studio, what impressed them the most at the parade, and the answers are various, it all boils down to "the strength of the Serbian Armed Forces". Since I was banned from entering the parade, nobody got around to asking me for my impression, but this is how I convey it, things that no one else will publish nor will the citizens have the opportunity to hear.
Dodik is late.
So, the "all-round Serbian president" Milorad Dodik, a regular guest of all events in Serbia, from military displays to the opening of factories or highways, seems to be a little late for the parade today, so Sheikh Bin Zayed (brother, the president of Serbia would say) sat next to Aleksandar Vučić at the beginning. Then Dodik arrived, so the "brother" was asked to get up and go a few places further, in order to free up a place for another "brother", Miletus. And then Mile sat down, Vučić whispered something in his ear, explained, like a military expert.
Photo: Tanjug/Miloš MilivojevićMilitary parade
Prime Minister Đuro Matsut sat in the first row, somehow at the end, who is formally the most powerful figure in the country, in his hands are all the levers of power. He probably also wondered "what am I doing here" and "why did I need all this". The President of the Assembly, Ana Brnabić, sat right next to Dodik, dignified, because she also understands everything, and probably lulled into the fact that she is the "second man of the country", who replaces Vučić when he is absent. Can anyone imagine Brnabić issuing an order to the army?
Cavalry welcome
She welcomed Vučić, along with the Guard and the cavalry, I guess to show that her horses also admire him.
The parade is commanded by Deputy Chief of General Staff Tiosav Janković, who comes to the stage in a vehicle and says "Mr. President of the Republic and Commander-in-Chief of the Serbian Armed Forces, allow the parade to begin", and Vučić, all important, like Comrade Tito in 1975, says: "I allow".
The second impression is the "Cobra" exercise of the special purpose unit of the Military Police, which demonstrated the neutralization of an attacker on a protected person. A crazy idea that came from Vučić's kitchen. Foreign military envoys must have been baptized both left and right. A demonstration exercise is performed at the parade, which has never been done anywhere. That, in fact, was Vučić's goal - to show the public that he is guarded by a very powerful unit and that no one can do anything to him.
And the parade as a parade, the army, as usual, performed it perfectly, without any hiccups, and how could it not have been when it had been practicing for weeks. What was seen of the equipment, 50 percent is from the last century, they also took part in the Victory Day parade held in 1985, and some in the one from 1975. All the same, when the official presenter says that these are the most modern equipment, then there is applause. Tanks, armored personnel carriers, "Utva", "Orao", "G-4" airplanes, "Gazelle" and "Mi-8" helicopters, some trucks, all this is already ancient. But it was important to say that it is new and modernized.
Influence
What is new, and it is good that it was acquired, are anti-aircraft or missile systems, such as the FK-3 or the Israeli "Pulse". The acquisition of that system was called by the patriotic media, among which the leading "Informer" had been scaring the "age-old Serbian enemies" for days. So yesterday, "Informer" had the headline "Panic among the Ustasha" on its front page and then the claim that Zagreb can be easily targeted with that system.
Given that the owner of Informer has a strong relationship with Vojislav Šešelj and admires him almost as much as Vučić, it would not be surprising if that title was influenced by the radical leader who claimed in the 1990s that Serbia had powerful missiles that could target Rome or Vienna, not to mention Zagreb.
Applause was also caused by the arrival of a pair of French Rafale fighter jets, which Serbia intends to buy, it has already paid the first installment, and when it will receive them, it is a long shot. However, no one told the citizens that those planes were "rented", rented, flew from France, with their pilots, specially for this occasion, flew over Ušće and returned to their country.
From the development sector of Jugoimport SDPR, a vehicle pompously called "Aleksandar the Unifier" was shown, and the author of the name is, most likely, who else than the authorized representative of that company in the Ministry of Defense, Assistant Minister Nenad Miloradović - Baća. He, years ago, came up with the name for the new howitzer "Alexander" in his yard, but it has not worked until now.
Now Ohio is OK.
It is also interesting that the commander of the Ohio National Guard attended the parade as a guest of honor, whom Vučić personally received on Friday. Not so long ago, when he was a radical, he called the then chief of the General Staff Zdravko Ponoš for treason, because the Serbian Army cooperates with the Ohio National Guard, "American villains".
Photo: FoNet/Milica VučkovićMilitary parade
The "Strength of Unity" parade showed that it could comfortably be called "unity", because even though the Ministry of Defense invited all citizens to come, the entrance was strictly controlled, only those organized by the Serbian Progressive Party could enter. Students who tried to come to support the army were blocked and stopped by the police and gendarmerie, they were not even allowed to approach. So much for the "Day of Serbian Unity"!
And that day and the parade on its occasion, it seems, is a walking holiday, like some according to the calendar of the Serbian Orthodox Church, like Easter or Halloween, the parade will be when Vučić decides.
Miraculously, Vučić did not speak at the parade, he used that later, at the meeting of the leaders of Serbia and Republika Srpska, when he said he would speak briefly, and then he had an endless monologue.
