Lunic: The global situation is not "rosy," time for Serbia to change its national security strategy

The Executive Director of the Council for Strategic Policies, Nikola Lunic, stated for Kosovo Online that, despite the absence of direct threats, the current global situation, which is "not rosy," indicates that it is time for Serbia to adjust its national security strategy.

"There are no indicators suggesting that we are facing any imminent danger. However, considering everything happening in our surroundings, it is evident that the national security strategy should be aligned with and adapted to the current situation. And the current situation, both globally and in Europe, is certainly not rosy," Lunic said.

He added that, in addition to investing in weapons and military equipment, Serbia must also focus much more on "investing in personnel."

"We need investments, but the most cost-effective investment is in people," Lunic emphasized.

Commenting on the latest research by the military portal Global Firepower, which ranked Serbia as the most powerful military force in the region, Lunic noted that this study does not analyze only military budgets.

"The rankings take into account not only budgets and military spending but also 60 different factors, including demographics," he explained.

On this list, Croatia is ranked just behind Serbia, while Kosovo is at the bottom.

He stressed that the positions of these two countries should be considered in a broader context.

"Croatia is a full-fledged member of both the EU and NATO, having transferred part of its sovereignty to these institutions. It is striving to meet NATO standards, which currently require spending two percent of GDP on defense, and this percentage is likely to increase following this year's NATO summit in the Netherlands," Lunic stated.

On the other hand, he pointed out that Kosovo is not a NATO member but aims to establish its armed forces by 2028 and "develop allied relations with powerful states in the region and globally."

However, he assured that Serbia has no reason to fear this.

"Considering its gross national income, Kosovo will never be a real threat to Serbia, unless there are tectonic shifts in the region in terms of geopolitical forces," Lunic concluded.