Russian ally Serbia took the delivery of a sophisticated Chinese anti-aircraft system in a veiled operation this weekend, amid Western concerns that an arms buildup in the Balkans at the time of the war in Ukraine could threaten the fragile peace in the region.
Media and military experts said Sunday that six Chinese Air Force Y-20 transport planes landed at Belgrade’s civilian airport early Saturday, 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. Serbia’s defense ministry did not immediately respond to AP’s request for comment.
The arms delivery over the territory of at least two NATO member states, Turkey and Bulgaria, was seen by experts as a demonstration of China’s growing global reach.
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“The Y-20s’ appearance raised eyebrows because they flew en masse as opposed to a series of single-aircraft flights,” wrote The Warzone online magazine. “The Y-20′s presence in Europe in any numbers is also still a fairly new development.”
Serbian military analyst Aleksandar Radic said that “the Chinese carried out their demonstration of force.”
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic all but confirmed the delivery of the medium-range system that was agreed in 2019, saying on Saturday that he will present “the newest pride” of the Serbian military on Tuesday or Wednesday.
He had earlier 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 on Ukraine.
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Although Serbia has voted in favor of U.N. resolutions that condemn the bloody Russian attacks in Ukraine, it has refused to join international sanctions against its allies in Moscow or outright criticize the apparent atrocities committed by the Russian troops there.
Back in 2020, U.S. officials warned Belgrade against the purchase of HQ-22 anti-aircraft systems, whose export version is known as FK-3. They said that if Serbia really wants to join the European Union and other Western alliances, it must align its military equipment with Western standards.
The Chinese missile system has been widely compared to the American Patriot and the Russian S-300 surface-to-air missile systems although it has a shorter range than more advanced S-300s. Serbia will be the first operator of the Chinese missiles in Europe.
Serbia was at war with its neighbors in the 1990s. The country, which is formally seeking EU membership, has already been boosting its armed forces with Russian and Chinese arms, including warplanes, battle tanks and other equipment.
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In 2020, it took delivery of Chengdu Pterodactyl-1 drones, known in China as Wing Loong. The combat drones are able to strike targets with bombs and missiles and can be used for reconnaissance tasks.
There are fears in the West that the arming of Serbia by Russia and China could encourage the Balkan country toward another war, especially against its former province of Kosovo that proclaimed independence in 2008. Serbia, Russia and China don’t recognize Kosovo’s statehood, while the United States and most Western countries do. [AP]
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Gee, I wonder from what country they stole that aircraft from……or maybe bought it through political campaign contributions….it sure does resemble a C-17 of the U.S. Airforce…..
@richard s.
They did not ”wiped each other’s villages”. Nazi regime of Independent State of Croatia wiped hundreds of thousands Serbs, Jews, Gypsies and everyone else who opposed them. Serbia did not side with USSR. There was no Serbia. All of it’s territory was occupied and divided.
You could have just easily said ”Germany and Poland wiped each others villages”.
There is no hatred between Croatia and Serbia. All the wars were organized by neo-colonial regimes and media who work for their western owners
thank you but I strongly disagree. I was in Albania in ’95 employed to slow down fuel smuggled into Serbia and Montenegro during Bosnian conflict. lots of atrocities. there were so many bodies thrown into the river that they plugged up the hydro station. and you don’t want to know what got ground up in the dog food factory. also did a contract in bosnia in ’03. absolute hatred still exists between all factions, from history to present day. and yes, Croatians sided with Germany while Serbs sided with Russia.
Do you remember when US-NATO sent five (5) cruise missiles straight into the Chinese embassy in Belgrade?
I remember..
FOR at least TEN YEARS,the village people of eastern UKRAINE cryed to the UN NATIONS,AMERICA,NATO,come and save us we are being killed like fish in a barrel,BUT NO ONE IN THE WESTERN COUNTRIES CARED,then they cryed to Mother RUSSIA,and NOW THEIR CRY FOR HELP HAS BEEN HEARD,and all you stupid morons will be wishing you had answered their call for help…IT turns out it was YOU AMERICANS who were killing them,SOON you all will wish you had brought your DEVIL military home where they belong,NOT out trying to murder the world to steal their resources,THIS you devils will really regret…
Well said. The U.S. and NATO countries are the biggest hypocrites on the planet. They are also the worst warmongering, genocidal dogs in the world today as well.
Amen. There is a conspiracy against Slavic people, Serbs and Russians.
O ye governments of the world! Be ye pitiful toward mankind! O ye nations of the earth, behold ye the battlefields of slaughter and carnage; O ye sages of humanity, investigate sympathetically the conditions of the oppressed; O ye philosophers of the West, study profoundly the causes that led to this gigantic, unparalleled struggle; O ye wise leaders of the globe, reflect deeply so that ye may find an antidote for the suppression of this chronic, devastating disease; O ye individuals of humanity, find ye means for the stoppage of this wholesale murder and bloodshed. Now is the appointed tune! Now is the opportune time! Arise ye, show ye an effort, put ye forward an extraordinary power, and unfurl ye the Flag of Universal Peace and dam the irresistible fury of this raging torrent which is wreaking havoc and ruin everywhere!
Should have shot it out of the sky then ask questions. The commies can’t do anything about it except to learn don’t mess with the west and improve the sh itty quality of your goods.
during WW II, orthodox catholic Serbia and Tito sided with Russia, while roman catholic Croatia sided with germany. they wiped each other’s villages out w/terrible atrocities. that hatred still exists between the two former parts of Yugoslavia.
The Roman Catholics are demons as evidenced by the recent ongoing abuse of kids going back decades across the debased western world from US To UK, Ireland, Australia France and Germany . So much for their special values and precious way of life. Many of the abused are in the corridors of power spreading the ideas and thoughts of their damaged minds into mainstream life and society in general, wanting to normalise the abuse they suffered around the world