Both countries fear their citizens from the other side and the alleged threats that are coming, when in fact they are the dangers of an empty M-48 rifle, which does not have a single bullet in it.
Looking at the speeches of the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, who talks about the "bursts" as a "miracle of the world", the citizens really think that Serbia will strengthen militarily, which is true, except that the fact that it will initially cost them 2,7 million euros, but that price is by no means final; arms dealers have their calculations.
From the Croatian side, on the other hand, there are assurances that they are the strongest air force in the region because they already have six "bursts", admittedly half-baked, but in use, purchased in 2021, and the other six are expected in 2025. Vučić and Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković thus transfer ping-pong balls through the state and parastatal media, and the ordinary world, the inhabitants of both countries, especially the Serbs in Croatia, are "fishing" for it.
"Croatia will continue to have the most powerful air force in this part of Europe", says Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, who admits that Serbia will have better aircraft when the first "bursts" are fired, but that Croatia has signed contracts with two French companies that supply equipment and weaponry for them, which is, isn't it - an advantage.
Vučić's tabloids immediately took advantage of this to put headlines such as "Croats are scumbags", "Zoran Milanović has nailed it" (since the Croatian president also said something on the subject), "Serbia has first-rate weapons, Croatia has none of that", " Milanović will break due to Serbia's new weaponry - everything is going well for Vučić".
Quoting the Croatian media is pointless, they all have their various informers, telegraphs and aloes, they also have on-duty "analysts" of the Stuparov-Karanov-Guzijan-Spasić type on television - today they talk about Serbia, tomorrow about Ukraine, the day after tomorrow about the Gaza Strip.
The President of Croatia, Zoran Milanović, said of Vučić's self-praise with the procurement of "rifles": "That does not concern me, even us (Croatia). You have a government in Serbia that is arming itself, and it is arming itself, in fact, for a week of some fictitious war, which will never break out. And Croatia is arming itself in the same way in less than a week of that war".
As in Serbia, where the government has been trying since 2017 to revive the idea of reintroducing military service before every election. In Croatia, the Minister of Defense is a certain Ivan Anušić, whose only task is to listen to his "boss" in everything, including regarding the return of military service, but also not to forget his "domestic task" to attack Serbia verbally. In all this, he utters one truth when he says: "There is no arms race because Croatia is a member of NATO". And with that he said it all!
Anušić continues that Serbia "can arm itself as much as it wants, but we are a stronger and more compact armed force. They have not progressed much since 35 years ago, and then, when we were self-organized - we beat them. I congratulate them on their 'bursts' and wish them a lot of luck with them", said Anušić, in the "Vulin" style. Who understood - understood.
Anušić is silent on the issue of military service (it will open up many other things in Croatia, because that idea was not well received by the citizens, especially those who went through the war). Croatia has a professional army, is a member of NATO and the EU, and what is there to talk about. Vučić and Plenković, as per agreement, are promoting this idea at the same time, the regime media are dealing with it, propagating it in one country as well as in the other.
On the eve of the presidential elections in Croatia, Milanović "covered up" that propaganda with the words: "It is a topic for a serious and boring conversation, not for debate clubs."
Milanović accused Plenković and Anušić of having attempted a "constitutional coup, ordered by the Croatian Democratic Union" with the decision to return mandatory military service, and that he prevented it "at the last moment". He also said that decisions about the army cannot be made without him "as the supreme commander", and that he will be against it, because "eight weeks of the army cannot be enough".
Milanović thereby put an end to the Vučić-Plenković escalation of war tensions. Their guild pays for vehicles with Serbian plates in Croatia and vice versa!
