Serbia defends China FK-3 missile deal, ‘no threat’ to neighbours
- 2019 purchase ‘legitimate and transparent’, Vucic tells Montenegro and Kosovo after alarm over reported delivery in three-day airlift to Belgrade
- The surface-to-air missiles have raised fears of an arms race in the Balkans
Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic has rejected criticism its Chinese FK-3 surface-to-air missiles could pose a threat to its neighbours and described the purchase as “legitimate, completely regular and transparent”.
In a video statement on his official website, Vucic said the weapons system posed no threat, with Serbia surrounded by Nato members, and that Montenegro and Kosovo needed to let his country chart its own course.
“They are not able to say how we threaten them with defensive weapons, because it is a system that serves to defend against cruise missiles and planes that would violate the airspace of Serbia,” he said.
Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic and Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti each raised concerns the weapons systems could endanger their countries, after six Chinese Y-20A heavy transport planes started arriving in Belgrade on Saturday.
They were followed by further arrivals over the next two days, reportedly delivering the FK-3 systems bought by Serbia in 2019.
Without directly referencing the airlifts, Djukanovic said Serbia was buying weapons from countries that “appeared to be open enemies of Europe and Nato”.
Serbia, which applied to join the European Union in 2012, has refused to join in EU sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine in February.