Chief of the General Staff of the Army of Montenegro, brigadier general Zoran Lazarevic, in March he organized the return of a "Yamaha" motorcycle with an official military vehicle, which had previously transported eight Montenegrin soldiers to Slovenia, about which the minister Dragan Krapović informed the Council for Defense and Security yesterday, "Vijesti" learned from sources familiar with the event and from part of the documentation they had access to.
From the documents, it appears that things got complicated at the Croatian border, because the motorcycle, which was bought in Celje for his son, did not have the necessary EORI certificate, which is why the customs officials did not allow the motorcycle to be exported to Montenegro.
Because of this, two Montenegrin soldiers had to leave the official van together with the motorcycle on the Croatian side and cross two border crossings, Karasovići and Debeli brijeg, on foot. Lazarevic's driver waited for them on the Montenegrin side and brought them to Podgorica. The next day, the general's driver allegedly drove one of them to the border again, in order to return the military van to Podgorica.
Regarding this case, according to the "Vijesti" interlocutor, the Intelligence and Security Directorate of the Ministry of Defense requested and received statements from Lazarevic and two soldiers who were hired to transport the motorcycle.
One of the newspaper's sources said that Lazarevic was speaking about the anonymous report about this case, which was delivered to the ministry and three members of the Defense and Security Council in April. The general denied all the allegations from the report, except for those about transporting the engine in a military vehicle.
According to another source, Lazarevic admitted in his statement that he used the return military transport from Slovenia in order to transport the motorcycle to Montenegro for personal needs.
"...Lazarević stated that the necessary documentation for the export of the motorcycle in question from the EU, i.e. Croatia, was not obtained, and that the motorcycle was detained at the Karasovići border crossing between Croatia and Montenegro, and then returned to the dealership in Slovenia," the source said. .
"Vijesti" learned that in the documentation sent to the Council, Krapović accused the general of "damaging the reputation of the Ministry and the Army, as well as the duties of the Chief of the General Staff, by using military transport for private purposes, as well as by attempting to import a motorcycle with military transport, without adequate customs documentation." which he performs".
In his statement, Lazarevic stated that he bought the said motorcycle in the middle of March in a showroom in Slovenia, and paid through an intermediary, and that since on March 22 the contingent of VCG members was transported to Slovenia for training, he used the return of the van to transport the motorcycle to Montenegro. On this occasion, he contacted the driver who took the motorcycle from the salon.
The problem occurred at the border crossing because it was determined that the company from which the motorcycle was purchased did not have an EORI certificate, which is a certain type of permit for export outside the EU.
The general stated, claims the source of the newspaper, that he understood in the communication with the owner of the salon that he would solve the problem positively, and therefore asked to keep the vehicle with the motorcycle in the customs area, and organized a return for the drivers to Podgorica.
He pointed out that the next day, when he realized that the owner of the salon would not quickly provide the required certificate, he arranged for the motorcycle to be placed at the airport near Dubrovnik, from where the owner took it and returned it to Slovenia.
One of the two enlisted soldiers said in his statement that they were transporting eight members of the Army to Maribor and that there were no other orders. He told that General Lazarevic bought his son a motorcycle in Slovenia and asked him to transport it to Montenegro. As he stated, they took the engine from the company in Celje on the evening of March 22, stating that "everyone knew that the engine for the general should be transported", said the "Vijesti" source.
That night, after taking over the motorcycle, they slept in the van, so that the next morning they would continue their journey to Montenegro. He said that after a problem arose at the border, he also called Lazarevic.
Lazarevic agreed that the motorcycle should remain at customs, and that the soldiers should return in a van, but that was abandoned after the customs officer told them that it was not safe to leave the motorcycle alone. After another consultation with Lazarevic, he agreed to let the van stay at the border crossing itself.
He said that, after leaving the van, he and a colleague crossed the border on foot, and that at the Montenegrin crossing, General Lazarevic's driver came to pick them up and transferred them to Podgorica.
A day later, according to the general's order, his colleague went to pick up the van with an official vehicle and driver, and unloaded the motorcycle in Dubrovnik. This was confirmed in his statement by his colleague who, together with him, was in charge of transporting eight members of the Army to Slovenia.
On August 28, Krapović submitted a proposal to the Council for Security and Defense on the dismissal of Lazarevic - due to "the assessment that a change of generations and rejuvenation of the officer cadre in the VCG is needed" - but the supreme command rejected it because there was no consensus among its members on this.
The three-member Council, which consists of the heads of state, the Assembly and the Government, decides unanimously, and Krapović's proposal was opposed by the president Jakov Milatovic, saying that he will support the dismissal of Lazarevic when he is told what the general did not do properly or what he did badly.
The remaining two members, the Speaker of the Parliament Andrija Mandic and the Prime Minister Milojko Spajic they supported Krapović's proposal.
After that, on September 3, he annulled the decision by which Lazarevic's term of service was extended last year until the following June, stating that he meets the conditions for termination of service.
However, Lazarevic remains the chief until he is dismissed by the Council, after which the Ministry of Defense should issue a decision on the termination of his service.
In mid-September, Lazarević sent Milatović a request to "accept and sign" the decision on his dismissal from the head of the VCG, which was proposed by Krapović.
Lazarević was appointed Chief of the General Staff in June 2022.
Lazarevic: I did not abuse my position
General Lazarevic told "Vijesta" that he believes that in this case he did not abuse his official position, and that Krapovic is trying to discredit him.
"It is absolutely not true that I abused my official position by using the return military transport to transport a motorcycle in March of this year from Slovenia to Montenegro. I bought the motorcycle in a Slovenian dealership, at the sale price with a minimal discount for cash payment. The dealership was right next to the road where the driver with an empty vehicle was returning through Slovenia to Montenegro," said Lazarević.
He said that "the minister was immediately informed about all this", claiming that "for the sake of credibility, he submitted the report and accounts to prevent any kind of evil intention".
"As far as I'm concerned, he could have provided that information to the media then, if he thought I had abused my position, I don't understand what he was waiting for until now." Probably when he heard that I was preparing a lawsuit against him for discrimination, he is trying to find fault with my service. I really believe that this inappropriate behavior of the Minister of Defense will not force me to act in a similar way".
Lazarevic assessed that the minister would have immediately initiated proceedings against him "if he thought there was anything objectionable about it". "As he himself said at the time that he didn't have any, now in this situation he is maliciously trying to discredit me".
Wrote to the Supreme Command that Krapović was "collapsing the combat readiness of the VCG"
Several Montenegrin media announced last week that Lazarevic, in a letter to members of the Defense and Security Council, accused Krapovic of undermining the combat readiness of the Army of Montenegro.
Lazarević informs the Supreme Command that Krapović "improperly and harmfully ordered that all the activities of the Chief of General Staff abroad be removed from the Work Plan of the Army of Montenegro for October".
"He does this unfounded, deliberate, and continuously, trying to present the work of the Army units, as well as his work, as low-quality, unproductive and insufficiently professional, and all in a way that does not befit a minister of defense".
In the letter, Lazarevic also claims that Krapovic kept the amendments to the Law on the Armed Forces in a drawer unnecessarily for almost a year, "and it foresees numerous advantages for improving the standard of living of the members of the Armed Forces, starting with solving the housing problem, the faster introduction of young people into the defense system, simpler procedures with staff movement in the service and promotion to higher ranks, and the like".
"These claims are best confirmed, unfortunately, by the reality where nearly 28 young people applied for the last competition for contract soldiers, to fill 100 positions, but in the end, almost six months later, only 20 people answered the call. I repeatedly pointed out the unbearable slowness of the administration, but even that was not understood. The worst thing is that because of the low salaries, we have contract soldiers leaving the Army every day, because their salary is only 630 euros," Lazarevic stated, among other things, in the letter.
Lazarevic also claims that Krapovic is trying to take over the role of Chief of the General Staff with repressive measures, and so he ordered the immediate return of an officer from Brussels because of his allegedly inappropriate story about him as a minister, and no one knows the details.
The general also stated that he had given up the planned activities abroad, so that other activities of the VCG could be carried out.
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