The operation took place last weekend in absolute secrecy: the China sent to the Serbia a sophisticated antiaircraft system. And this has caused great concern in the West, because there is a risk of a large accumulation of arms in the Balkans, an area where tensions are already very high. And at a moment of such a fragile international balance for the war in Ukraine, passing guns sounded like a threat. They landed at Belgrade Airport last Saturday six Y20 transport aircraft of the Chinese Air Force: They wore HQ22 surfacetoair missile systems intended for the Serbian army. Chinese cargo planes with military markings were photographed at Nikola Tesla Airport. The Serbian Defense Ministry did not respond to the AP news agency, which asked for an explanation.
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Beijing: “Normal Cooperation Projects”
Immediately after the news broke, the reply arrived from China, confirming the deployment of its sophisticated antiaircraft (surfacetoair missile) systems, but putting this in the context of bilateral “cooperative projects” which “they did not do”. have nothing to do with the current situation “in Ukraine. According to Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian, the deployed fleet of six Y20s is nothing more than “normal military supplies”. Lijian added during the Adding to daily briefings that “the annual cooperation projects between China and Serbia are not aimed at third parties. The People’s Liberation Army “recently carried out the previously planned delivery”.
The six Y20 transports flew over the airspace of two NATO countries (Turkey and Bulgaria) and landed in Serbia, a country that has very close ties with Russia. The 2019 purchase was discouraged a year later by the US and Serbia warned that joining the EU or other western alliances would involve deploying defense systems of more uniform and western standards. The Chinesemade missiles, delivered amid the instability of the Balkans, are mostly compared to the American Patriots or the Russian S300, despite having a shorter range: 170 km at a height of 27 km.
Serbia is the first European country to acquire such Chinese weapons. President Aleksandar Vucic’s government, just confirmed for a new mandate, voted in favor of UN resolutions condemning Russian aggression against Ukraine but decided not to support international sanctions against Moscow. So, it must be said that Russia has also delivered 30 tanks and 30 armored vehicles to Serbia in recent months. And Belgrade also bought sophisticated Russian Pantsir air defense systems from the Kremlin, as well as Chinese attack and transport helicopters and drones. At the same time, Black Hawk military helicopters were delivered to Croatia from the United States. Croatia is locked in a mini arms race with its neighboring Russian ally Serbia amid rising tensions in the Balkan region.
Why is China supplying arms to Serbia?
China’s arms shipment to Belgrade went through the territory of at least two NATO member states, Turkey and Bulgaria, and has been taken by experts as evidence of China’s growing global reach. “The presence of the Y20 in Europe is a fairly recent fact,” the experts explain. Serbian military analyst Aleksandar Radic believes “that the Chinese wanted to show their strength with this gesture”. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic almost confirmed delivery of the agreed mediumrange system in 2019 and said he would present “the latest pride” of the army on Saturday.
He previously complained that NATO countries, representing most of Serbia’s neighbors, are refusing to allow the system’s delivery flights over their territory because of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. Despite voting for UN resolutions condemning the bloody Russian attacks, Serbia has refused to join international sanctions against its allies in Moscow and has not openly criticized the atrocities committed there by Russian forces.
As early as 2020, US officials had warned Belgrade against buying HQ22 antiaircraft systems, the export version of which is known as the FK3. They said that if Serbia really wants to join the European Union and other Western alliances, it will have to adapt its military equipment to Western standards. The Chinese missile system has often been compared to the American Patriot and Russian S300 surfacetoair missile systems, despite having a shorter range than the more advanced S300. The country, which formally aspires to EU membership, has already bolstered its armed forces with Russian and Chinese weapons, including fighter jets, tanks and other equipment. In 2020, the Chengdu Pterodactyl1 drones, known as Wing Loong in China, were delivered. Combat drones are capable of hitting targets with bombs and missiles and can be used for reconnaissance tasks. In the West, there are fears that Russia’s and China’s buildup in Serbia could embolden the Balkan country to another war, particularly against its former province of Kosovo, which proclaimed independence in 2008. Serbia, Russia and China do not recognize the state of Kosovo, while the United States and most western countries do.
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