Belgrade military parade, propaganda spectacle in the face of internal weakness

In an atmosphere of the greatest social divisions in Serbia, the military parade called “The Power of Unity”, which was held on the occasion of the Day of Unity, Freedom and the Serbian National Flag, ended after two hours, writes The Geopost.

While the demonstration of force took place under the Vucic regime, students warned of a rally, but they were prevented by the police.

Analysts say the main goal is to project power, intimidate domestic opponents and send a clear signal to regional neighbors.

“The need to display so much equipment is infantile,” military analyst Aleksandar Radic told DW.

“It’s not about showing an optimal amount, but a large amount. The goal is to make it look massive, to create the impression that there is a lot of everything. Instead of showing five pieces of equipment, they show 40-50. So you will see equipment purchased in the 1970s as well as more recent purchases,” he said.

The parade in Belgrade is a message to the neighbors, says American analyst Kurt Bassuener of the Berlin-based Council for Democratization Policy, who sees the parade as an open signal to Serbia’s neighbors about its new military arsenal.

“But this is also – perhaps above all – a visible attempt to establish internal control in Serbia, control that is increasingly escaping Vučić’s grasp, at least in terms of public opinion,” he told Radio Free Europe.

According to him, the fact that, as he says, Vučić is “losing control” in the country is also affecting his foreign policy, pushing him towards geopolitical arbitration.

Meanwhile, media outlets that do not support the regime in Serbia described the parade as a “Vučić show.”

The special guest, introduced by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, who personally welcomed him at the Belgrade airport last night, was the President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. “He is one of the people who has always been with our country, especially when it has been difficult for us. Happy that I will be able to learn a lot from him tonight at a friendly dinner, and especially grateful that he will be our guest at the military parade,” Vučić wrote last night on his Instagram profile.

However, for unknown reasons, the special guest left the event after an hour and was soon replaced by Bosnian Serb Milorad Dodik, close to Vučić.

What was on display?

More than 10,000 participants presented about 2,500 units of weapons and military equipment, over 600 vehicles, 70 aircraft and 20 watercraft at the parade.

The Israeli “PULS” missile systems and the “Hermes 900” unmanned aerial vehicle were shown to the public for the first time. During the aviation flyover, along with the Serbian MiGs, French “Rafales” also flew, aircraft for which Serbia paid 2.7 billion euros and which should become part of the Serbian Armed Forces within a few years.

During the parade of the echelon of motorized units, there were armored combat vehicles “Lazar 3”, “Miloš”, “Hummer” with members of special and reconnaissance units, quads, a modernized “Giraffe”.

Two batteries of the FK-3 air defense missile system were presented, then the “Pantsir” air defense systems, as well as the “Neva” with missiles that were used to shoot down aircraft during the NATO aggression in 1999.

The HQ-17A PVD missile system, the “Hermes 900” unmanned reconnaissance and combat aerial vehicle, the Shadow-25 LM (loitering munition) – a medium-range drone armed with a 25-kilogram warhead – were presented.

The parade ended with a parachute jump from an H-145 helicopter, from a height of between 1,500 and 2,000 meters. One paratrooper carried the flag of the Republic of Serbia, and the other the flag of the Serbian Army.

The parade seemed to be a replica of authoritarian regimes.

Who was present?

In addition to the interior ministers and generals, the parade was also attended by political representatives of Serbs from the region, including, in addition to Dodik, from the BiH entity, Željka Cvijanović, member of the BiH Presidency and President of the entity assembly Nenad Stevandić, RS Prime Minister Savo Minić, as well as the Chief of the Joint Staff of the Armed Forces of BiH Gojko Knežević, and ministers in the RS Government.

Vučić’s parade was also attended by two officers of the General Staff of the Montenegrin Army, as well as regular guests from Belgrade, political Serbs from Montenegro, Andrija Mandić and Milan Knežević. Ivan Stoilković, the country’s deputy prime minister and president of the Democratic Party of Serbs in Macedonia, was seen from North Macedonia. Also present were guests from abroad, including, in addition to the aforementioned President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a delegation from Bahrain led by Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, military delegations from France, China, Hungary, Azerbaijan and Cyprus.

Also in Belgrade was Matthew Woodruff, commander of the National Guard of the US state of Ohio.

Also present was Hollywood actor Steven Seagal, also known for his close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has been in Belgrade since September 10 to shoot a film.

This is the first military parade since 2014, when Russian President Vladimir Putin was a special guest in Belgrade.

At the same time, students who have been protesting against the government for months held a rally in support of members of the Serbian Army. They attempted to reach the military parade site in the morning, but police did not allow them to continue on their planned route, with reports that police pushed them away.

/The Geopost