[ad_1]
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said he was “grateful” to “join the prestigious Rafale club”. The French fighter-bombers are to replace the Serbian air force’s aging fleet of Russian MiGs, and are to be delivered to Serbia by 2029.
Belgrade is buying nine single-seat Rafale jets and three two-seaters for 2.7 billion euros, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said just after the signing. Welcomed as he exited the plane by his counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, who is making the trip despite the political crisis in France where he must appoint a new Prime Minister, also attended the signing of several agreements on waste treatment or rare materials.
Candidate for membership of the European Union
The Rafale issue is sensitive: Belgrade, a candidate for membership in the European Union, maintains relations with Moscow despite the invasion of Ukraine, and has not imposed sanctions on Russia since the start of the war in 2022.
Speaking to AFP, President Vucic argued that almost all of the Serbian “interceptor planes” and “all” of the “combat planes came from Russia.” “We have to evolve, change our habits and everything else in order to prepare our army,” he said.
France also puts forward this argument, evoking a logic of “tying Serbia to the European Union”. Belgrade can make the “strategic choice” of “cooperating with a European country” to renew its fleet, it is hoped in Paris.
If France does not take the place “for example with Rafales” of the Russian planes used in Serbia, “this enclave which is in the middle of the European Union will become an entry point for instability on our continent and for all authoritarian regimes from Russia to China”, Jean-Noël Barrot, the resigning minister responsible for Europe, added on France Info radio on Thursday morning.
France officially supports Serbia’s EU accession process
For Vuk Vuksanovic, of the Centre for Security Policy, a think tank in the Serbian capital, “Vucic is looking for a solution to replace his ageing MiGs”. “If he doesn’t find one, neighbouring Croatia, with its own Rafales, will have air superiority in the Western Balkans. And Vucic’s ego cannot accept that,” he explains.
“Furthermore, he believes that by purchasing these Rafales, which are an extremely expensive product of the French arms industry, he will buy the political protection and favors of President Macron.” The two countries did not discuss any counterparts to the transaction.
France officially supports Serbia’s EU accession process, which is being championed by Aleksandar Vucic despite concerns expressed among the population. In a letter published in the Serbian press on Thursday, Macron reiterated that Serbia had “its rightful place” within the European Union.
“Consolidating the rule of law”
“I am returning to Serbia today with a simple message: the European Union and its member states need a strong and democratic Serbia at their side and Serbia needs a strong and sovereign European Union,” the president wrote.
Eight months after the Serbian legislative elections, which were marred by fraud according to the OECD and the European Parliament and won by the presidential party, the Elysée believes that this accession process must push Belgrade to “consolidate the rule of law”.
Emmanuel Macron is also expected to advocate the “normalization of relations with Kosovo”, an “integral part” of this “rapprochement” with the Twenty-Seven. Since Kosovo’s independence in 2008, which Serbia has never recognized unlike many Western countries, attempts at appeasement and dialogue have failed. On Friday, Macron and Vucic are expected in Novi Sad, the country’s second city.
[ad_2]
Source link -74