BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) – Russia’s ally Serbia took delivery of a sophisticated Chinese anti-aircraft system in a covert operation this weekend amid Western concerns a Balkan build-up at the time of war in Ukraine could threaten the fragile peace in Ukraine of the region.
Media and military experts said on Sunday that six Chinese Air Force Y-20 transport planes landed at Belgrade civilian airport early on Saturday and were 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 Serbian Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to AP’s request for comment.
The arms shipments across the territory of at least two NATO member states, Turkey and Bulgaria, have been seen by experts as evidence of China’s growing global reach.
“The appearance of the Y-20s raised eyebrows because they flew en masse as opposed to a series of individual flights,” wrote online magazine The Warzone. “Also, the numerical presence of the Y-20 in Europe is still a fairly recent development.”
Serbian military analyst Aleksandar Radic said that “the Chinese carried out their violent demonstration”.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic nearly confirmed the 2019 agreed delivery of the medium-range system and said on Saturday that he would present “the latest pride” of the Serbian military on Tuesday or Wednesday.
He had previously complained that NATO countries, which represent most of Serbia’s neighbors, are refusing to allow the system’s delivery flights over their territories amid tensions over Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
Despite voting for UN resolutions condemning bloody Russian attacks in Ukraine, Serbia has refused to join international sanctions against its allies in Moscow or openly criticize the apparent atrocities committed by Russian forces there.
Back in 2020, US officials warned Belgrade against buying HQ-22 anti-aircraft systems, the export version of which is known as the FK-3. 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.
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The Chinese missile system has often been compared to the American Patriot surface-to-air missile system and the Russian S-300, despite having a shorter range than the more advanced S-300. Serbia will be the first operator of Chinese missiles in Europe.
Serbia was at war with its neighbors in the 1990s. The country, which formally aspires to EU membership, has already bolstered its armed forces with Russian and Chinese weapons, including fighter jets, main battle tanks and other equipment.
In 2020, Chengdu Pterodactyl-1 drones, known as Wing Loong in China, were delivered. The 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 build-up in Serbia could encourage another war in the Balkan country, particularly against the former province of Kosovo, which proclaimed its independence in 2008. Serbia, Russia and China, on the other hand, do not recognize Kosovo’s statehood as the United States and most Western countries do.