REL: Serbian state finances Red Berets veterans who fought in Kosovo as well

Some of its members have participated in war crimes and have been convicted of liquidating political opponents.

According to a analysis by the Balkan Radio Europe Free Radio Service, only through competitions of the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs of Serbia has the association been allocated 23,000 euros in the past two years.

The Red Berets Veterans' Association has received funds in all contests from the veterans' defence field, implemented by the Labour Ministry since the time Millica Djurdevic Stamekovski was appointed at its helm.

Djurdjevic Stamkovski is chairman of the far-right party “Zvetnici” and has become part of power in Serbia in 2024, even though her party has not passed the election threshold in the then elections.

The Labour Ministry did not answer Radio Europe's questions free of what is specifically spent on separate means and what is the public interest in financing projects of the Red Berets Association for budget money.

Neither did the Red Berets Veterans' Association.

When you take such a unit and extract heroes, while its war path is known, man must ask himself what values this power promotes”, says Free Europe Radio Philip Schvarm, editor-in-chief of the Serbian weekly “Vreme” and author of a documentary on Special Operations Unit.

Who were the Red Berets?

The Special Operations Unit, better known as the Red Berets, was founded by Serbia's State Security Service, headed by Jovica Stanisic dealt with one of Yugoslavia's then-Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's closest associates.

His right arm was Franco Simatovic.

Stanisic and Simatovic were sentenced to The Hague in 2023 to 15 years in prison for support and assistance in war crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992.

The Special Operations Unit, by that name, also participated in the Kosovo war during 1998-1999.

At the time, Simatovic appointed Milorad Ulemek, known as Legija, her commander.

The unit was disbanded in 2003 during the police operation “Sablja”

Some of its members have been convicted of political assassinations, including the assassination of Serbia's prime minister, Zoran Djindjic, on March 12th 2003; the murder of former President of the Presidency of Serbia Ivan Istanbul in August 2000; the murder of four Serbian Renewal Movement officials (SPO) in October 1999; and the attempted assassination of SPO leader Vuk Draskovic, in Budva in 2000.

What does the Ministry finance?

According to data from the Agency for Business Registers in Serbia, the Red Berets Veterans' Association was founded in 2019.

Public records of her activity indicate that her first income was in 2021, when a total of 4,800 euros were reported.

The largest amount of income, the association, in 2024, was worth 29,000 euros.

The data on the amount of donations collected for 2025 has not yet been published.

From the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veterans' Affairs and Social Affairs, in 2024 and 2025, the association has benefited from 11,500 euros a year -- a total of 23,000 euros, according to ministry reports.

Public data does not indicate from which other sources its income originated.

Labour Minister Milica Djurdjevic Stamkovski approved funding for the Red Berets Veterans' Association, with the aim of organising the General Tour of Veterans, as well as for the implementation of projects “The position of fighters in today's” and the “Beatdown of freedom”.

The Entire veteran tour is a sports competition for veterans, organised by the Association once a year and, in addition to donations by the Labour Ministry, has been supported earlier by the Vojvodina Government.

Free Europe radio contacted the Government of the Autonomous District of Vojvodina about the distribution of funds for the association, but until the publication of this article, no response was received.

For projects by the Red Berets Association “Freedom Trust” and “The position of fighters in today's society” which are financed by 10,000 euros from the budget, there is no available public information about exactly what they include, whether they have been implemented and when implemented.

Reports of the implementation of these projects are not even published in the documentation of the respective ministry's contests.

At the end of 2022, the association has set up a monument to former Red Beret member Nikola Simiqi, in the Belgrade district of Busije.

Who is the head of the association?

The Red Berets Association's legal representative is Zivorad Gjika Ivanovic, former Special Operations Unit member who, as can be seen in a video from May 1997, reported to then president of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milosevic, at a ceremony marking the establishment of the Tower Unit in northwest Serbia.

Even though his name was mentioned in the trial of former Serbian State Security Chiefs Jovica Stanisic and Franco Simatovic, no legal procedure was conducted either before international courts or within Serbia.

Veterans in Protection of Power

Ivanovic was last in public spotlight in March 2025, when he led veterans of the Special Operations Unit to a camp at Pioneer Park in Belgrade.

There, for more than a year, supporters of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party gathered, including some people with criminal records.

The fact that they appeared there a few days before the anniversary of the assassination of Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic”, Schvarm says.

In addition to Gika Ivanovic, veterans at the Pioneer Park in Belgrade were also led by former Serbian Gendarmerie Commander Goran Radosavlevic Gur, whom the United States linked to the murder of the Bytyqi brothers after the war in Kosovo in 1999.

The ruling party in Serbia declared at the time that it sees no problem from their presence at support gatherings for President Aleksandar Vuciq and the current Government.

Special Operations Unit veterans have also become regular participants in manifestations organised by the ruling party from marking anniversary of historic events to ceremonies in the days of the Belgrade municipalities.

In December 2025, they were employees of the Ministry of Labor and, as announced in their account at the Instagram, attended a working meeting with the “further upgrade of veterans' position”.

Minister Djurdjevic Stamkovski was also photographed with them.

Djurdjevic Stamkovski, as chairman of the far-right party “Zavetnici”, was in opposition until 2024.

With the formation of Serbia's new government in May 2024, it took up the post of minister for Familycare, while at the current government is at the helm of the Ministry for Labour, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs.

In February 2024, then Serbia's Defence Minister and the president of the Serbian Progressive Party, Milos Vuchevic, visited the Red Berets Veterans' Association stage at a fair in Novi Sad.

The association, at the time, participated in the display “Homeplace Fair”, organised by the Fund for Displaced Persons and for co-operation with Serbs in the region, with the support of the Vojvodina Government.

On the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the establishment, several veterans of the Special Operations Unit organised a memorial ceremony on May 4th, where, in the name of former members of this unit, Vasillija Mijavic expressed gratitude to Serbian President Aleksandar Vuciq, saying that at his coming to power, “the entity has returned to glory”.

Always count on us to lead our country for a long time. For a long time, Serbia has not had such a leader -- visionary”, Mijavic said, adding that “colgeium has decided to give the president the nickname "Great Alexander”.

“This is a message directed towards the strongest nationalist part of the Serbian Progressive Party's electorate”, Schvarm estimates.

Photos published in the Instagram account of the Red Berets Veterans Association show that Mijovovic was part of this association's delegation at several events since the beginning of this year.

Mijavic is a former Montenegrin secret police official. As a member of paramilitary formations operating in Bosnia and Croatia, he has participated in wars in the space of the former Yugoslavia.

His role in the conflicts of the '90s has also been spoken at The Hague Tribunal, where witnesses have described him as participants in inhumane acts against civilians as well as criminal activities.

Mijavic was not tried for his role in war either before local courts or international courts. / REL