European concerns over Serbia’s ties to China resurface after reports of missile delivery

Reports that China delivered weapons to the Balkan state were criticised by its neighbours as a threat to their own security

Montenegro says Belgrade was buying weapons from ‘an open enemy of Europe’ and analysts say there are concerns the missiles might be delivered to Russia

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Serbia was reported to have received the missiles earlier this month. Photo: Handout

Published: 5:00pm, 17 Apr 2022Updated: 9:39pm, 17 Apr 2022

The controversy over Serbia’s deal to buy Chinese missiles reflects concerns about China’s military power projection as well as local tensions, according to analysts.

Recent reports that FK-3 surface-to-air missiles had been transported to Serbia by Chinese jets were criticised by its neighbours Montenegro, which voted to end its union with Serbia in 2006, and Kosovo, which broke away from Serbia after a bloody conflict in the late 1990s.

The leaders of both countries expressed concern that the missiles could endanger their own security, and Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic also warned that Serbia was buying weapons from countries that “appeared to be open enemies of Europe and Nato”.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic defended the missile deal, signed in 2019 along with an agreement to buy Chinese armed drones, as “legitimate, completely regular and transparent” and said the weapons would be used to defend the country against “cruise missiles and planes that would violate the airspace of Serbia”.

The following year Belgrade officially inducted six Chinese CH-92A attack and reconnaissance drones, making it the first European country to deploy Chinese unmanned aerial vehicles.

Although Serbia has appldied to join the European Union, its closeness to Russia and China have caused concern across the continent, and the ongoing tensions from the break-up of Yugoslavia continue to cast a shadow over the Balkans.