Germany warns Serbia on EU future after Belgrade gets weapons delivery from China
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- Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, speaking at the weekend during military exercises, acknowledged that he plans to present his army's "new pride" this week, but gave no further details.
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TIRANA, April 12 – Germany warned Tuesday that Serbia must align its foreign policy with that of the European Union if it wants to become a member of the bloc, adding Berlin had taken note of reports that Belgrade recently received anti-aircraft missiles and other military equipment through China.
The weapons delivered by Chinese military aircraft are a surface-to-air defense FK-3 system, which is similar to the Russian S-300 system, or the American Patriot system.
Authorities in Serbia have not yet confirmed that they have accepted delivery of these systems, but multiple reports said the weapons had been delivered after large Chinese military could be seen at Belgrade’s main airport.
Belgrade paid for the FK-3 missiles and the Chinese CH-92A combat drones in 2019, making Serbia the first operator of these Chinese weapons in Europe.
Serbia is the Western Balkans’ front-runner in joining the EU, having opened the most membership negotiation chapters, while NATO members Albania and North Macedonia have waited for a decade or more without a chance to open membership negotiations as divisions within the EU and lack of fast enough progress domestically have hampered EU hopes.
“As a matter of principle, the Federal Government’s expectation for all candidates aspiring to join the EU is that they join the EU’s common foreign and security policy and thus move closer to the EU,” said the Press Office of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, speaking at the weekend during military exercises, acknowledged that he plans to present his army’s “new pride” this week, but gave no further details, Radio Free Europe’s Albanian service reported.
Serbia is balancing its European aspirations and partnership with NATO, as it has centuries-old religious, ethnic and political ties to Russia.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Monday reiterated calls for Serbia to join the EU, the United States and other countries in imposing sanctions on Russia over its occupation of Ukraine.
Belgrade has voted against Russia three times at the United Nations, but has not imposed sanctions on Moscow.
“If you want to become an EU member, which Serbia wants, it is essential that at such moments you join the EU foreign policy and the sanctions involved in that policy,” Baerbrock said.
Serbia’s army mainly has equipment of Soviet times and Russia is one of the largest suppliers. Belgrade also depends on gas and oil supplies from Russia.
The West has expressed fears that arms purchases from China and Russia could contribute to the growing influence of these countries in the Western Balkans.
On Monday, Vucic told Reuters that Serbia plans to buy dozens of French Dassault Rafale fighter jets, a move that experts say is a signal that Belgrade is distancing itself from Russia.
Meanwhile, China has invested billions of dollars in Serbia, mainly through soft loans, investments in infrastructure and energy projects.
The Associated Press first reported on Sunday that Serbia took the delivery of a sophisticated Chinese anti-aircraft system in a semi-secret operation over the weekend, amid Western concerns that an arms buildup in the Balkans at the time of the war in Ukraine could threaten the fragile peace in the region.
Media and military experts said Sunday that six Chinese Air Force Y-20 transport planes landed at Belgrade’s civilian airport early Saturday, reportedly carrying HQ-22 surface-to-air missile systems for the Serbian military.
The Chinese cargo planes with military markings were pictured at Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla airport.
The arms delivery over the territory of at least two NATO member states, Turkey and Bulgaria, was seen by experts as a demonstration of China’s growing global reach.
