Aleksandar Vučić is persistently addressed by the title "supreme commander", although according to Serbian regulations, it simply does not exist. It is a matter of supreme polity and the creation of a cult of personality, for which the soldiers are not at all to blame - they carry out orders
Last weekend, Aleksandar Vučić toured the construction site of the barracks in Loznica. In his honor, a red carpet was rolled out and the Guard was lined up. This time, unlike some previous occasions, he showed respect for that unit - he did not come in jeans and sneakers, but in a suit, as protocol dictates.
The officer commanding the honor platoon, Captain First Class Manojlović, addressed him: "Mr. President of the Republic of Serbia and Commander-in-Chief of the Serbian Armed Forces..."
It's just that the term "commander-in-chief" has no constitutional and legal foundation. It is not the captain's fault that he used it, but those who ordered him to call Vučić that way, a retired officer, a former lawyer in the Army and the Ministry of Defense, told Vreme.
Abuse of the Army for the sake of creating a cult of personality
And he states: "The designation 'supreme commander' has no constitutional or legal basis." The constitution and the law clearly define the powers of the president, but terminologically they do not give him the right to use, nor is there any mention of this title, which exists in the world and is used in a certain number of countries, and in our country it was taken over by local spin masters and the media machinery of the president in order to create cult of personality".
As for the use of this term in the Army, this lawyer explains that it is obvious that such terminology is agreed upon in the executive branch of the Ministry of Defense and hierarchically brought down to lower levels of military management.
He points out that "the army and military leaders bear no responsibility for this kind of abuse".
"This is another political abuse of the Army." The army was formed according to the principle of a strict hierarchical structure and a solid chain of command. The responsibility lies with the all-powerful media advisors of the President, then the executive power, that is, the political commissars in the Ministry. In the end, the elders are neither asked by anyone, nor can they express their position in any way," concludes the officer, who is well versed in military regulations.
The first after Tito
Slobodan Milošević, when he was the president of the FRY, was never called "supreme", although during the bombing, Radiotelevision of Serbia addressed him that way, but not by order of the president's cabinet, but by a poltergeist from the top of RTS.
Boris Tadić, even though he had the same spin masters with him who are now with Vučić, was never presented in public with that title. Just like Vučić's predecessor in the position of President Tomislav Nikolić.
Vula's baptist
Apparently, Vučić succumbed to the polity of Aleksandr Vulin, who as the Minister of Defense began to insist on the term "supreme" driven by the desire to compare Vučić, who was in love with Russia at the time, to Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko. The subordinates from the top of the army accepted it, because the minister's will not be denied. And then it took off.
Otherwise, the term "supreme" is not mentioned in the Constitution of Serbia, it only states that "the President of the Republic, in accordance with the law, commands the Army and appoints, promotes and dismisses the officers of the Army of Serbia".
The Law on Defense and the Law on the Serbian Armed Forces also do not have it. The Law on Defense, Article 11 says: "The President of the Republic, in accordance with the Law, commands the army." The Law on the Armed Forces states in Article 17 that the President of the Republic decides on the use of the Serbian Armed Forces in peace and war.
Obviously, the "vulinization" that gripped the military leadership did not lose its momentum, but continued to "spread its wings". And the president got used to the role.
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A black picture and the breakdown of the rule of law subscribeThe archive of the weekly Vreme includes all our digital editions, since the very beginning of our work. All issues can be downloaded in PDF format, by purchasing the digital edition, or you can read all available texts from the selected issue.
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