Serbia will showcase 19 new weapons systems at the military parade on Saturday. It is a multifaceted foreign policy display of the Western Balkan countries, balancing the EU aspirations with the arms trade across France, China, Israel and Russia.
Belgrade officials describe diversified military procurement as part of the country’s aspirations for neutrality. However, for analysts, this approach shows that strategic priorities are just as important as nominal non-alignment.
According to Nicola Lunić, an independent geopolitical and defense analyst in Serbia, it certainly isn’t a message of strength.
“We don’t need deterrence as our geographical status is surrounded by NATO and the European Union,” Lunich told Euroneus.
“Formal, Serbia’s orientation is directed towards EU integration, but at the moment its true foreign policy focus is still not clear,” added Lunich.
While waiting to join the EU, without the perspective of joining the NATO, Serbia aims for de facto neutrality as part of the recent history following the violent division of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.
According to Gordan Akrap, a security advisor to the Croatian government, memories of the 1999 NATO bombing against Serbia amidst the conflict in Kosovo represent an important obstacle to Belgrade’s path to the alliance.
“It’s very difficult to keep in mind that Serbia will become an NATO ally, not just because she doesn’t want it in the near future, but there are many things that Serbia needs to meet to apply for NATO membership,” says Akrap.
Serbia is clearly set on the path to join the EU, regardless of its relationship with the Security Alliance, according to Ana Brunavic, president of Serbia.
“As a country, our strategic priority is integration into the EU, and I know that I don’t see this as a competing interest,” Brnabić told Euroonews.
Serbia needs time, according to her former prime minister of the country.
“When you look at EU integration, it’s clear that subscribers should gradually adjust IT security and foreign policy to EU. These are the rules of the game,” she said.
On September 3, Serb President Alexandervić, along with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, the sole head of government from the EU and NATO countries, attended a military parade in Beijing to commemorate the 80th anniversary of China’s victory over Japan in World War II.
But does this mean that Belgrade is away from Brussels?
“I don’t think so. Especially considering the People’s Republic of China, senior EU officials have also visited Beijing,” Brunavic said. “Chinese President XI visited some of the EU’s capitals. It’s not something you have to choose between,” she explained.
Diversification of Arsenal Suppliers
Meanwhile, Serbia has worked hard to diversify its essentially updated military weapons.
Belgrade is one of the few European countries that did not impose sanctions on Russia, and has purchased weapons in the past. At the same time, it was repeatedly accused of pledging humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, providing materials from Moscow to Kiev, and urging Serbia to suspend all arms exports.
Serbia has also purchased Lafale multi-roll fighter jets from France and anti-aircraft missile systems from China, among several weapons that have dealt with a variety of suppliers in recent years.
Experts believe diversifying the purchase of weapons from different countries can cause technical compatibility issues between weapon systems within the same military.
Meanwhile, acquiring weapons from different sellers and different sources can sometimes be done as a diplomatic “gesture of good political will” in the exporting country, Akrap said.
Released last August, Serbia announced that it had signed a technical and commercial cooperation agreement of over 1 billion euros with Israeli high-tech company Elbit to purchase the Hermes 900 drone.
“We need to produce and import technology, not just systems. This is important. The contract with ELBIT is also about importing sophisticated technology from Israel,” Lunich said.
Serbian authorities have announced that two French Air Force Rafales will patrol the skies in Belgrade as Serbia awaits its own French jet delivery, in addition to the 19 new weapons systems on display at the parade on Saturday.
