History contradicts him: Bosnia was disarmed in the 1990s, and Goganović wants us to believe again that 'there will be no war'

Written by: Amina Čorbo-Zećo

Deputy Minister of Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina Aleksandar Goganović opposed the proposal to increase the Ministry of Defence budget by 28 million marks intended for arming the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

According to his logic (which fits into the 'Serbian world'), additional money is unnecessary because 'even what was previously approved has not been spent', so he asks: 'Who are we defending ourselves from? Our neighbours will not attack us.'

Goganović, however, does not see, or pretends not to see, that it is precisely the neighbours who are rapidly arming themselves. In the last few years, Serbia has spent billions of euros on Russian and Chinese aircraft, helicopters and missile systems, and regularly organises military parades demonstrating its strength.

Croatia has acquired Rafale fighter jets and is modernising its entire military arsenal. It is also not far from introducing compulsory military service. But Goganović does not ask the question 'who are they defending themselves from'.

In his vision, Bosnia and Herzegovina needs nothing more than uniforms and boots, and that only if they happen to be on sale. The Armed Forces, he says, are better used for natural disasters than for defending the state. In short, for floods a rake, for fires a broom, and if, God forbid, a military threat arises, presumably our neighbours will lend us a tank or a drone.

And history teaches us quite the opposite. In the 1990s, when the JNA was formally supposed to 'defend all peoples', it turned into an open weapon of aggression. Weapons paid for from Sarajevo, Bihać and Mostar ended up on tanks and howitzers that destroyed those same cities.

At that time, Bosnia and Herzegovina remained almost disarmed; the authorities almost naively handed over the weapons of the Territorial Defence, or they were seized from them, believing there was no threat. But the threat came swiftly, and precisely because of the unpreparedness in the first months of 1992, many cities paid a terrible price.

Perhaps Goganović has forgotten, but the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina have not; we had to seize weapons from JNA barracks, the very ones built with our money and land. War came then while many were repeating that it would not happen. Surely we will not again wait for the same scenario unprepared and unprotected.

That is why it is worth recalling the old saying: 'Prepare as if war will come tomorrow, but live as if peace will last a hundred years.' Unfortunately, in a country where the Deputy Minister of Defence says there is no one to defend against, it most reminds us that it was precisely neglect that was always the most dangerous ally of any aggressor.

In any case, Aleksandar Goganović is clearly working and speaking in favour of neighbouring powers, and least in the interest of the state where he receives his salary.