Serbia shows off new Chinese missiles in display of military power
BATAJNICA, Serbia (Reuters) – Serbia on Saturday confirmed off its new Chinese language-made surface-to-air missiles and different navy {hardware} bought from each Russia and the West, because the nation seeks to carry out a fragile balancing act over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Members of the general public and the media have been invited to the show on the Batajnica navy airfield close to Belgrade, the place Chinese language and French missiles have been lined up beside Airbus helicopters, Chinese language-armed drones and Russian MIG-29 jets. Serbia is striving to stability its partnership with NATO and aspirations to hitch the European Union with its centuries-old spiritual, ethnic and political alliance with Russia.
The Chinese language FK-3 surface-to-air defence system, just like Russia’s S-300 or the U.S. Patriot system, was bought by Belgrade in 2019 and delivered earlier this month.
Serbia is at the moment the one European nation to function the Chinese language missile system and CH-92A fight drones. President Aleksandar Vucic toured Saturday’s show flanked by navy commanders and watched an aerobatics present that includes overhauled MIG-29 jets donated by Russia in 2017. “I am pleased with the Serbian military, I am pleased with an important progress,” Vucic instructed a information convention.
“We’ll considerably strengthen our fighter air drive … Serbia is a impartial nation and Serbia should discover options enabling it to protect its sky and its state.”
The supply of the FK-3 missile system prompted a number of Western international locations, together with Germany, to warn Belgrade it anticipated the Balkan nation to align its overseas coverage with the EU if it needed to change into a member. Belgrade has voted in opposition to Russia thrice on the United Nations however stopped in need of imposing sanctions in opposition to it. Serbia’s navy is loosely based mostly on ex-Soviet know-how and Russia is certainly one of its important suppliers. Belgrade can be dependant on pure gasoline and oil provides from Russia. Vucic mentioned Serbia expects to buy 12 Rafale multipurpose fighter jets from France by the tip of the yr or early subsequent yr, a transfer seen by political analysts as an indication of Belgrade distancing itself from Russia.
He mentioned Serbia can be negotiating to purchase 12 Storm fight plane from Britain.
(Reporting by Reuters TV and Daria Sito-Sucic; Writing by Aleksandar Vasovic; Modifying by Helen Popper)
