At today's session, the Defense and Security Council, at the proposal of the Minister of Defense Raško Konjević, appointed Brigadier General Zoran Lazarevic as the Chief of the General Staff of the Army of Montenegro (VCG).
The previous chief, Brigadier General Milutin Đurović, was appointed as the defense envoy in the military-diplomatic representation of Montenegro.
Today, a Council session was held in Villa Gorica in Podgorica, chaired by the President of Montenegro, Milo Đukanović. The President of the Assembly Danijela Đurović, the Prime Minister Dritan Abazović, and by invitation the Minister of Defense Raško Konjević participated in the work.
As announced by the president's office, the council considered other issues within its jurisdiction.
11 years ago, the then president of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) Ranko Krivokapić, who as president of the Assembly, was a member of the Council for Defense and Security together with the President of Montenegro Filip Vujanović (DPS) and Prime Minister Igor Lukšić (DPS), opposed the proposal of the former Minister of Defense Bor Vučinić (DPS) that Lazarević be extraordinarily promoted from the rank of colonel to the rank of brigadier general.
Namely, in 2011, Vučinić proposed to the Council the extraordinary promotions of Colonel Lazarevic, who served as the Chief of Staff of the General Staff of the VCG (practically, the deputy of the NGŠ), and Colonel Rifet Kosovac - his assistant for material resources and the captain of the battleship Rajko Bulatović, the then commander of the Navy of the VCG, although no one of those three officers, at that moment he did not meet the formal conditions for regular promotion to the rank of brigadier general, or commodore.
Krivokapić, as "Vijesti" wrote at the time, refused to sign the agreement for the promotion of this officer, while the head of the parliament also asked for additional information about the actions of Colonel Lazarevic, in the open conflict that was then raging between the Ministry of Defense and the trade union organization of the VCG, i.e. with members of the armed forces who filed lawsuits against the Ministry of Defense (MoD) due to non-payment of overtime compensation and non-compliance with applicable regulations.
Lazarevic was then entrusted with the role of "quenching the rebellion" by the leadership of the Ministry of Defense and the then NGŠ, Vice Admiral Dragan Samardzic, and because of the methods he used against Lazarevic, the VCG trade union organization filed a criminal complaint for abuse of official position, assault and discrimination.
At that time, among other things, he initiated disciplinary proceedings against the president of the SOVC, lieutenant colonel Nenad Čobeljić for "unauthorized appearances in the media" and without following the prescribed procedure, Čobeljić was ordered to reduce his salary twice by 20%.
Some of the members of the VCG who were fired at the time, called Lazarevic in the media that he allegedly harassed and discriminated against them, as Serbs, on a national basis.
Lazarević, who is an artilleryman by specialty, and in the meantime ended up in military diplomacy in Brussels, reached the rank of brigadier general much later - only in 2020, when he was promoted to a higher rank together with 135 other members of the VCG by the then Minister of Defense Predrag Bošković ( DPS).
Bošković did this in the months immediately before the parliamentary elections in 2020 under very controversial circumstances, without clear criteria for numerous such decisions and often with disregard for the procedure provided for by law, and what was later from well-informed circles and by Olivera Injac, who succeeded him on to the position of Minister of Defense, problematized and marked as party abuse of the army and the defense system in favor of the DPS.
Lazarević was also noted for the fact that during the emergency situation caused by heavy snowfall in February 2012, he remained covered in snow in Međurječe on the Podgorica-Kolašin road, together with Zoran Begović, assistant minister of the interior for emergency situations at the time, and after of a longer stay with the locals who provided them with shelter, had to be evacuated by a military helicopter.
Bonus video:
