Front Matter

Testimonials 2001

By Pande Petrovski

(Translated from Macedonian to English and edited by Risto Stefov)

Testimonials 2001

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February 23, 2015

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INTRODUCTION

The Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA), as a federal army in the composition of Yugoslavia, with the disintegration of the state, gradually began to collapse. The Yugoslav disintegration began with military actions primarily in Slovenia and Croatia. JNA units, after leaving part of their military assets in Slovenia and Croatia, withdrew from those territories as those states declared their independence as sovereign states.

Three types of people lived in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Serbians, Croatians and Bosnians. From that aspect the JNA tried to prevent Bosnia and Herzegovina from unraveling, but failed on account of the international community sending military forces to prevent a conflict - a civil war broke out with serious consequences.

Macedonia gained its independence without war - peacefully, with a referendum on September 8, 1991 in which 95% of the people voted for an independent state. Parliamentary elections were organized during the course of 1990 in a multi-party system along with independent institutions: Parliament, a government with its own ministries, etc.

In December 1991, the Republic of Macedonia and the Coalition Secretariat for National Defense of the former Yugoslavia (SSNO) began negotiations for the peaceful creation of the Army of the Republic of Macedonia (ARM). After the talks an agreement was reached for JNA to be withdrawn from the Republic of Macedonia in February and March 1992. After JNA’s withdrawal, the Republic of Macedonia, as the last republic to achieve its independence from former Yugoslavia, finally formed its own army. The ARM was a joint army of all nationalities living in Macedonia. After the agreement between the then government and SSNO, the JNA peacefully withdrew and took all military vehicles, equipment and other personal weapons belonging to the border guards who secured the border between the Republic of Macedonia and Albania, Greece and Bulgaria.

The formation of ARM began with the appointment of the chief of staff who was then part of the JNA, but without equipment and

armaments. Using the experience and enthusiasm of the then JNA Macedonian officers and staff, the establishment of the Army began with the first recruits for military service being called in on April 1, 1992. Until then, until 1991, the JNA command of the 3rd Army Region (under the authority of the 3-AO were: territories of the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro and FR Southern Serbia) was deployed in the territory of the Republic of Macedonia, and its units (joint operating units) had Bitola Corps for Western Macedonia, Kumanovo Corps in Eastern Macedonia and the town Vranje in Southern Serbia. Besides these operating units that were deployed in the Republic of Macedonia there were also air force units and air defense missile units and some independent brigades, etc., i.e. a composition of 20-25,000 soldiers and officers.

Even though the JNA took all the equipment and weapons, it did not take the human factor. The Republic of Macedonia had an active and reservist, skilled and JNA trained soldier and officer composition of about 120,000 people. The human factor was not a problem for forming the ARM. Therefore, the Republic of Macedonia immediately began its establishment using the trained officers and non-commissioned officers (NCO’s), personnel from all generations and branches (infantry, artillery, armour, engineers, pilots, sailors, etc.).

The officers and NCO staff were the basis for the quick formation of the ARM. Besides that, the Republic of Macedonia also opened a number of military facilities in the cities with good infrastructure and provided them with quality training. Three Army Corps were then quickly formed: the Bitola Corps, the Skopje Corps and the Kumanovo Corps. Territorial defense became part of ARM’s structure.

In the nine year period before the military crisis began, ARM had three reorganizations during which it formed a small, mobile and modern army which, above all, represented a factor of deterrence against all possible aggressions and, at the same time, became combat ready to ensure execution of the tasks specified by the Republic of Macedonia’s Constitution and by the Law on Defense.

In 1998 I (Pande Petrovski) was given the task to organize and lead the ARM reorganization, to primarily establish a compact army, similar to those in NATO member states. This was to be done within 5 years and as such the army was to be reorganized so that it could be a candidate for NATO membership.

The plan for the ARM reorganization, under its current composition, by constitutional rights, was signed by Commander in Chief, President Kiro Gligorov. According to that plan, ARM was composed of: 14,000 active soldiers and officers of whom 50% were professional soldiers and 50% were recruited. On top of that about 40,000 reserve soldiers and officers were included. The total number of military personnel in the ARM was around 55,000, corresponding to international standards in terms of the number of inhabitants and economic power of the state (2% in terms of the number of residents in the state). Before this ARM reorganization, together with the reserve and active composition, there were about 120,000 military personnel.

To assist in the ARM reorganization, the then government of the Republic of Macedonia signed an agreement with the United States, or with an instructor team of retired U.S. military veteran officers known as the MPRI. The MPRI was hired to assist with the drafting of a stabilization and deterrence plan and, because the Republic of Macedonia was already a member of the Partnership for Peace, it became a member in the partnership for peace system.

The group of instructors offered a plan to reorganize the ARM but that plan was declined by the ARM General Staff and by the Ministry of Defense. The proposed plan was for the Republic of Macedonia to have a single brigade, i.e. a light infantry brigade with two light battalions and a small part of special units. (No artillery, armour, aviation, etc.)

At that time (1998) the Republic of Macedonia, in terms of military equipment, had: 94 T-55 tanks, 36 105 mm howitzers, over 100 122 mm howitzers, over 100 120-60 mm mortars and over 300 APCs, etc.

On December 26, 1999, after Boris Trajkovski the new President of the Republic of Macedonia was elected, the Minister of Defense, Academic N. Kljusev, organized an orientation for introducing the supreme commander with the situation in the former Army and the plan of reorganization for the next 5 years.

A report regarding the current ARM situation was filed by the then Army Chief of Staff General Trajche Krstevski, and I (Pande Petrovski) filed a report on what ARM should look like in five years, after the reorganization.

Among other things, in this report I stressed: “We have disagreements with the MPRI team about the reorganization, but that was superseded because the plan was twice fully accepted in Brussels by all NATO member states without any reservations.”

Shortly after that, in January 2000, about 500 officers, including all generals, were retired i.e. for being “obstacles” to the reform.

After that, after the officers were retired, the plan prepared by the MPRI team was accepted - and in 2000 the ARM reorganization was started under MPRI control. The Republic of Slovenia refused the MPRI team’s offer to reorganize the Slovenian Army. Croatia accepted the MPRI but then expelled them after a while. Here, in Macedonia, we kept the MPRI active until May 2001.

Before the crisis, at the beginning of 2001, ARM was in the final stages of reformation or “dismantling” (3. Army Corps disbanded, 2. Army Corps - Bitola disbanded, tank and artillery units disbanded, aviation dissolved), the border brigade was under reformation and each guard house had 10-12 soldiers, etc.

First of all in 2000: a newly formed unit was promoted. It consisted of a light infantry brigade with two battalions officially launched by President Boris Trajkovski which, in their composition, had one professional battalion and one battalion with conscripts.

The MPRI team proposal signed by H.J. Haen, accompanied with a letter, was sent to the NATO ambassador in the Republic of

Macedonia in which included, among other things, were the following:

In reference to the ARM structure or what kind of army the Republic of Macedonia should have, it said: “The hardest question is the necessity of helicopters. The current budget cannot support a force that will be compatible with NATO and with pilots trained by NATO standards; this should remain an inspiration for the future...”

5. “The mentioned Macedonian policy is defense, which in modern military science means more antitank power than tanks. Also, the limited budgets and human resources dictate that there is no need for tanks in its force, especially if they are not good enough and if their maintenance is expensive. There needs to be a proper threat assessment and strategic defense analysis done which will focus on the period up to 2005 and beyond. At the moment, all in NATO, here and in Brussels have difficulty with ARM’s needs to have tank battalions for two corps. The only scenario which would require such equipment is for parades or for repressive internal operations.”

“...There will be need for radical reduction of staff, and as far as I could gather from the recent publications it is also the aim of the Ministry of Defense. However, due to their current pension rights, the staff can delay the reforms. Therefore it is necessary to make arrangement for early retirement, which will be financially viable for those who need to go before retirement, and it would be good for the overall morale...”

9. “There is a time window of opportunity from 5-10 years, while NATO troops are in the region, for a true restructuring which will be interoperable in line with NATO. Maximum use of this period will result in an army with a clear purpose, an army that will thrive in the 21st century. This will strengthen the stability of the Republic of Macedonia and the entire region.”

These instructions – MPRI guidelines, were fully implemented in Macedonia in 2000 through the NATO office and ARM entered the 2001 war in the Republic of Macedonia as “an Army of the 21st century.”

A war was brought to the Republic of Macedonia in 2001, which came down to testing its ability to defend its independence and territorial integrity. Why did this war occur in the Republic of Macedonia in 2001, why after ten years of sovereignty and independence and international recognition? Today, 2006, the citizens of the Republic of Macedonia are still searching for the truth, “Why did the 2001 war take place?” - “No one wants to tell that truth.”

From a political aspect, a “revolution” took place to change the socio-political system. From a security aspect where the security forces were called upon to stop the war from taking place – it was a “hot-cold” tactic giving the impression that the Republic of Macedonia could not solve the problem by itself on its own, with its own security forces. This is why the politicians won this war and the ARM and the people were humiliated by their then current “leaders”.

We are certain that historians will have the final say regarding this period, and especially why the war took place in 2001!?

I got involved later in the resolution of what happened to the Republic of Macedonia. After I became involved in General Headquarters I had direct participation in the state leadership and in the way the crisis was resolved by military means. I also participated in the process of decision-making, planning of military operations and the execution of combat operations. In this effort, and through writing this book, I have tried to bring my view of the 2001 events to the public fore. My expression is primarily due to my respect for the brave defenders who sincerely stood in the ranks of the ARM and defended their homeland, and a special tribute to the fighters who gave their lives for the freedom of their homeland.

The Author