And it’s been buying Chinese weaponry for some time now.
An interview with the Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Army, General Milan Mojsilovic, given to Novosti prompted some international news and defense portals and their social media audience to proclaim that Serbia is changing its foreign policy course by ending some of its military procurements from Russia, thus aligning itself with the West, all caused by sanctions imposed on Moscow and pressure stemming from the EU and the US.
What the interview stated is, that since delivery is virtually impossible at the moment, some of the contracts were canceled, and some were postponed in the hope that the situation would stabilize, allowing their implementation. In the meantime, At the same time, due to the proliferation of Soviet-era and Russian-made weapons in the world, Serbia can continue to maintain and operate existing weapons.
What probably caused the overexcitement in the anti-Russian neck of the Internet woods was the unsolicited exegesis of Serbian policy decisions by the Russian officials.
Russian International Affairs First Deputy Chairman Vladimir Dzhabarov weighed in on Serbia’s resolution, saying that Belgrade’s “neutral” stance is rational considering the “constant pressure” from neighboring NATO members.
“I am sure that the Serbian people are one of the closest and most fraternal peoples for us. But there is politics and politics, apparently, has its own considerations.”
“I understand that the President of Serbia…does not hide it, that he is surrounded by all NATO countries. He is under pressure, very strong pressure. Frankly speaking, he resists any attempts to draw him into the sanctions policy against our country.”
In the minds of most Serbian citizens, the espoused “neutrality” of Serbian foreign policy is considered a wise balancing act while waiting for China and Russia to rise up and cleanse the West from the horrors of modern-day medicine, environmental protection, minority rights, and all those yucky “librul” things.
In reality, Serbia is now deploying Chinese weapons, namely the FK-3 air defense missile system, which is to be used with the Russian Pantsir-S missile-gun system. It also operates the Chinese CH-92A strike drones.
The MiG-29 Fulcrums and the Mi-35 attack helicopters are still in use in the Serbian armed forces, as well as a lot of legacy Soviet armaments.
So yeah, don’t get your hopes up, Serbia is still a minor BRICS tentacle, for a good reason. And the European Union will not take in another version of Slovakia and Hungary.
Maybe you heard about the strange example of the epic corruption plaguing the PLA regarding the missiles filled with water instead of fuel and lids on silos that do not work properly.
Serbian magazine Vreme reported that an explosion happened at the Military Technical Institute on September 9, 2024. in the capital city of Belgrade.
The Ministry of Defense came out with an explanation: “The Military Technical Institute (VTI) in the barracks in Žarkovo conducts regular and planned activities of testing rocket engines. Tests are carried out under strictly controlled conditions, in rooms designed for these needs and without danger to people and the environment. The aforementioned planning tests will be continued during the following days.“
The article in Vreme offers a different explanation:
“Believing the statements of the Ministry of Defense, especially when it comes to incident situations, is the same as believing that “Santa Claus” brings gifts to children on New Year’s Eve, on a sleigh pulled by reindeer from Lapland, or that Serbs ate with gold and silver forks at court. while in Europe they did it with their hands. Propaganda does its job.
It would take too much space to enumerate the cases that the military propaganda machine of the Serbian Progressive Party, with the help of the regime media, tried not to cover up, but to direct the public’s attention to the wrong track…”
PRC’s weapons and Serbian military might be a match made in heaven.
Serbianism 