BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) – Serbia on Saturday publicly displayed a recently delivered Chinese anti-aircraft missile system, raising concerns in the west and among some of Serbia’s neighbors that a Balkan buildup could threaten the region’s fragile peace.
The sophisticated HQ-22 surface-to-air system was delivered last month by a dozen Chinese Air Force Y-20 transport planes in what is believed to be the largest airlift shipment of Chinese weapons to Europe.
Although Serbia officially aspires to European Union membership, it has armed itself mainly with Russian and Chinese weapons, including T-72 main battle tanks, MiG-29 fighter jets, Mi-35 attack helicopters and drones.
Back in 2020, US officials warned Belgrade against buying HQ-22 missile systems, the export version of which is known as the FK-3. They said that if Serbia really wants to join the EU 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 surface-to-air missile system and the Russian S-300, despite having a shorter range than the more advanced S-300. Serbia is the first operator of Chinese missiles in Europe.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said at the end of the weapons demonstration at a military airport near Belgrade that the Chinese missiles, as well as other recently delivered military hardware, pose no threat to anyone and are only a “strong deterrent” against potential attackers.
“We will no longer allow it to be anyone’s punching bag,” Vucic said, apparently referring to NATO’s 78-day bombardment of Serbia for its bloody crackdown on Kosovo Albanian separatists in 1999.
Serbia, which was at war with its neighbors in the 1990s, does not recognize Kosovo’s declared independence in 2008. It still has frosty relations with NATO members Croatia and Montenegro, as well as Bosnia, whose separatist Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik attended the military exercise on Saturday.
Vucic said that Serbia is also negotiating the purchase of French Dessault Rafale multirole jets and British Eurofighter Typhoon. He said only “political hurdles” could prevent the western planes from being bought.
There is a widespread concern that Russia could push its ally Serbia into armed conflict with its neighbors in an attempt, at least in part, to divert public attention from the war in Ukraine.
Despite voting for UN resolutions condemning the 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 in Ukraine.