Mobilization in Serbia

Territorial Defense units from Valievo, Smederevo, Smederevska Palanka, Kraguievac and Sabac, totalling several thousand soldiers, are outraged by the confusion, by the lack of proper organization, the lack of supplies and equipment, the incompetence of their commanding officers, the heavy casualties and the general mess on the frontlines.

The First Army District Command in Belgrade reacted in an irritated manner, giving a statement on September 24, where they called the reservists "cowards and traitors"; this failed to impress them. When they came home, the public rallies were held and all the complaints voiced. These events mark a departure from the traditional attitude of Serbs from inner Serbia concerning the military service: they used to be disciplined and proud of their country's achievements victories in past wars. The reservists bitterly denounced what appears to be a state of utter confusion and within the Army top brass.

The men of the Valievo armour batallion, which was mistakenly severely hit by the Yugoslav Air Force, said: "We have been shelled by Croats from two sides and by our own mortars from the third side; the Air Force also dropped some bombs"; "I saw a truck being hit and the bodies of our men flying high.

When we finally retreated to Sid, our major, the only officer we trusted, tore off his rank insignia and threw them."; "A lieutenant colonel of ours was outraged when he saw what happened: he told us to drive our APCs home". One of them did: Vladimir Zivkovic, a reservist from Valievo, drove his APC to Belgrade, right to the Federal Parliament building. He surrendered to the military police. The Army hastily stated that he was "mentally deranged", but his gesture was understood to be a sign of protest. His comrades say: "He's not mad; he is one of our bravest men: he was fetching us water during the fire while nobody dared to do it in a tank." A unit from Gorni Milanovac (500 men) stationed in Sid was ordered to break through the heavily defended Croat lines in Tovarnik. Just before the incident they were told that they are a "volunteer unit". They were supposed to "pass through glued to the bus floor". They refused to do so and came under a heavy pressure from their haughty major. During the argument, after being called "a traitor, a deserter and a coward", a soldier committed suicide with his service rifle.

The unit was disarmed and sent home. The small town of Sid, some 100 km from Belgrade, which serves as the deployment center of the Army reservists, witnessed several dramatic events of this kind recently.

The typical questions asked by reservists back home were: "Who are we fighting for and against whom? Is Serbia in the state of war? Are we volunteers or reservists?" They pointed out to some recent statements of Mr Slobodan Milosevic, the President of Serbia, who last week flatly declared that no Serbian Territorial Defense soldier is to be found on the Croatian territory and that Serbia is not in the state of war.

During the unrest and the mutinies it became clear that the Army suffered much greater losses trying to take Vinkovci, Vukovar and Osijek than was admitted at first. Not succeeding in the efforts to take those towns proved to be a severe blow to the Army, undermining its already tarnished public image.

The Chief-of-Staff Gen. Blagoie Adzic reportedly had some rather unpleasant experiences while visiting the troops: on one occasion he was faced with objections about "the friendly fire" to which he reacted arrogantly, calling a soldier "an ox" and a lieutenant "a liar" and threatening to have them arrested; on another occasion, he tried to humiliate some worn out and unshaven soldiers, but they reportedly chambered their rifles and sneered at him, forcing him to retreat into his chopper and fly away.

During the closed session on September 26, the Serbian Parliament was told that the response to the partial mobilization was very poor: only 50 percent in the whole of Serbia turned up and only 15 percent in Belgrade. It is becoming obvious that the Serbs won't fight until they are told what for, against whom and why. The obvious reluctance of Mr Milosevic's regime to openly declare the Serbia's war objectives has now backfired. Mr. Dragan Dragoilovic, the Minister of Religious Affairs, was sent to Valievo last week in order to explain to the reservists the Serbia's position concerning the war. That is the closest the official Serbia ever came to defining its aims. "We keep saying that Serbia isn't in war with Croatia. But, the Serbs are. We can't say it openly, because of the world public opinion: in such a case, Serbia would be seen as an aggressor. They can't claim that a Serbian Army soldier in Croatia is fighting for Serbia. That is the reason why Serbia can't form its own army. Instead, Serbia has its army within the Yugoslav People's Army".