Serbia Receives Shipment of Chinese Military Supplies

Photo of a standard HQ-22/FK-3 system, parts for which were rumored to be in the recent shipment from China to Serbia. Photo: Chinese Ministry of National Defense, via DefenseNews

It was announced on Monday, April 11, that China completed what it termed a delivery of “regular military supplies” to Serbia over the weekend. It is suspected that the shipment included a battery for the Chinese FK-3 medium-range, road-mobile, surface-to-air missiles. This coincides with a contract that the Balkan country signed with China in 2020, which also secured the country the Chinese CH-92 armed drone.

According to media reports and military experts, six Chinese Air Force Y-20 transport planes landed at Belgrade’s civilian Nikola Tesla airport early Saturday morning. This delivery took place amid concerns over what an arms build-up might mean for the fragile peace in the Balkans. In order to reach Serbia, the Chinese planes had to fly over the territory of at least two NATO member countries: Turkey and Bulgaria. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has previously expressed his complaints about NATO countries refusing permission for delivery flights over their territories due to escalating tensions over Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. 

Zhao Lijian, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry, clarified that the delivery was not meant as a threat to any third parties and “has nothing to do with the current situation,” presumably referring to the war in Ukraine. Serbia has traditionally been a close ally of Russia, and Belgrade‘s increasingly close ties with both Moscow and Beijing have raised alarm bells for the West.

China and Serbia have been longtime allies partially due to a shared aversion to Western powers. When Serbia was the target of NATO’s 1999 bombing campaign over the conflict in Kosovo, the Chinese embassy in Belgrade was hit. Despite the fact that NATO has vehemently denied that the attack was intentional, Beijing has continuously rejected this claim. Both China and Russia side with Serbia in refusing to recognize Kosovo’s independent statehood.

Serbia’s military heavily relies on Russian and former Soviet military equipment, and is looking to upgrade its lines of defense via purchases through countries like China and France. Photo: Darko Vojinovic/AP, via DefenseNews

President Vučić also unveiled on Monday that the country is planning to purchase twelve French Rafale multipurpose fighter jets, as well as additional ground attack planes. This move is perceived as Serbia’s latest attempt to distance itself from its ally and historic military supplier, Russia. Belgrade has faced pressure to loosen its links with Moscow as Serbia is a candidate for membership within the European Union. The country currently remains in the negotiations process, and the potential purchase of military equipment from France has subsequently been interpreted as a signal of Serbia’s willingness to more closely align itself with the EU bloc. 

This is not, however, the first time Serbia has purchased military equipment from France. Belgrade previously bought French Mistral surface-to-air missiles in 2019, as well as Airbus helicopters in 2016. This diversification of sources of military equipment might have interesting implications for future alliances, given the fact that Serbia’s current military force is primarily built on former Soviet technology. The country’s air and ground forces, as well as missile systems and radars, mainly hail from Russia. The future military contracts and purchases Serbia makes will have to be accompanied by the careful consideration for its bilateral partnerships and commitments.