"Legalization of existing practice".

This is how Radio Free Europe's interlocutors see the changes to the article of the Law on the Serbian Army, which state that in the future the Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Army will command the army "in accordance with the decisions of the President of Serbia."

"Now he will have a stronger connection, meaning direct influence of the president on the decision-making of the Chief of General Staff," Predrag Petrovic from the Belgrade Center for Security Policy (BCSP) told Radio Free Europe.

He added that this essentially does not change the situation much, because "for a long time" in Serbia "such a system of governance has informally existed."

"Such a system has been put into operation by the Serbian Progressive Party."
and the president of the republic [Aleksandar Vučić] not only with the army, but also with the police and security services, and now it is formalized in this case as well," he assessed.

Aleksandar Vučić, who has led the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) since 2012 and is serving his second term as president of the state.

Military analyst Aleksandar Radic agrees. He said that the aforementioned legal changes "have a certain weight," but do not bring "anything radically new."

"Because we already have a high military command that would still act according to the president's decisions, whether it is written in law or not. They have recently acted in accordance with his decisions," Radiq praised.

According to the Constitution of Serbia, the president of the state appoints, promotes and dismisses officers of the Serbian Army.

"The military high command is made up of people with high ranks. This means that the name of every person who is part of the military high command must have passed through the analysis of the president of the republic. These people are expected to act loyally, whether this is written in the law or not," emphasized Radić.

At the same time, government representatives in Serbia said that this is malicious criticism, assuring that the proposed legal changes do not increase the president's powers over the army.

“It is also important to note that the powers of the President of the Republic of Serbia in decision-making on the use of the Serbian Army and its command in peacetime and wartime, since 2006 [when the Constitution of Serbia was adopted], have not been changed or expanded in any way, even with this proposal,” Serbian Defense Minister Bratislav Gasic said on November 24.

How has it been so far?
So far, Article 19, which is subject to changes, states that the Serbian Army is commanded by the Chief of the General Staff and senior commanders in accordance with the law and command acts based on ranks.

The new law states: “The Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Army commands the army in accordance with the law, decisions of the President of the Republic of Serbia and acts of command.”

Although the Serbian law and Constitution have so far provided that the president of the state commands the army, Predrag Petrovic explained that there are different levels of command.

"The level of command of the president of the republic is not the same as that of the chief of the General Staff, from whom operational command related to the work and functioning of the army is expected. The president does not have the expertise to do such a thing," said Petrovic.

"To explain it more simply, the president of the republic is, for example, competent to set the foundations for the development of the Serbian Army, while what that development will specifically include is the work of professionals – the Chief of the General Staff and people who have the expertise for this," he added.

Petrovic said he believes the main goal of the amendments to the Law on the Army is "to introduce stronger discipline and loyalty to the president of the state, so that he can quickly and decisively use all security actors according to his will."

He also explained that such a practice is not common for parliamentary democracies.

"It is not common anywhere for the president of the republic to interfere in the operational work of the army, because this is simply a professional matter, it is not a political matter," he stressed.

What does the government in Serbia say?
In the justification for the proposed changes, it is not explained how the chain of command will change, it only states, among other things, that the purpose of adopting this law is to "ensure the efficient functioning of the Serbian Army."

Neither the Ministry of Defense, nor the Government of Serbia, nor the Office of the President of Serbia have responded to REL's questions on this issue.

Justifying the proposed law at the session of the Parliamentary Committee for Defense and Internal Affairs on November 24, Serbian Defense Minister Bratislav Gašić said that this is "tendential criticism" which, according to him, is an attempt to distract attention from other changes, which bring a more favorable position for professional military personnel.

Gasic assessed that the essence of the law is "improving the position of members of the Serbian Army, which the opposition is trying to block."

"Why? Because it is not convenient for you to tell citizens and professional military personnel, who are on contract, of the Serbian Army that the 2007 law determined that they never have the right to have a permanent employment contract, unless they receive the ranks of non-commissioned officers. This is the essence of this legal change in the army," said Gasic.

Regulation of the status of professional soldiers
Although the changes to Article 19 have attracted the most public attention, they are not the only changes proposed to the Law on the Army.

A series of provisions have also been defined that regulate the position of professional members of the Serbian Army, including the possibility of indefinite employment.

Military analyst Aleksandar Radic stressed that these are demands with "political weight" and greater importance.

"Suddenly, the government is very interested in what it ignored until yesterday, when the Military Union of Serbia raised questions about what will be done with these topics," he declared.

"The status of professional soldiers is being defined, which has been unresolved for years. Never since 2012, the ruling SNS has thought of mentioning this topic, and now the amendments and supplements to the law are being hastily approved," Radiq added.

He considered that this "comes from the need" of the ruling SNS to "create a mechanism where it rewards people" to "consolidate its support" within the military.

14 years ago, Serbia switched to a professional army and abolished compulsory military service.

Although there were warnings that compulsory military service could be reinstated this year, this has not been included in the proposed legal changes.

Serbia says it is militarily neutral and has included military neutrality in its Defense Strategy and National Security Strategy, which were adopted by Parliament in 2019. Serbia is one of the few countries in the Western Balkans that does not want to join NATO./REL