Serbia, Chinese Fear Exercise, Russian Airplane

Russian production helicopters, helicopters and tanks held shooting Saturday in Pester, a lonely area of training in western Serbia, while Chinese military drones flew to the sky.

The maneuvers called Co-operation 2020 were the demonstration of a renewed Serbian military power and were attended by President Aleksandar Vucic and other personalities.

During the exercises, Serbia's close military ties with Beijing and Moscow were highlighted.

In recent years, Belgrade has accelerated defence spending while demanding dominance in the Western Balkans.

His military budget increased to about $1.14 billion in 2020 and 2019, which is 43% more than in 2018. This year's military spending constituted around 2.4 per cent of the total domestic product.

“We are strengthening our army to prevent any aggressors, we do not intend to launch any conflict”, Mr. Vucic told reporters after the exercise.

For the first time, Serbia demonstrated the use of Chinese combat drones CH-92A, the first defeat of Chinese non-pilot flying vehicles in Europe. It took six such fears in June.

Beijing views Serbia as part of the “initiative A Belt A Street”, aimed at opening new foreign trade ties to Chinese companies that have invested billions of euros, mainly soft loans, for infrastructure and energy projects.

For Saturday's exercise, the Serbian Army deployed 40 aircraft there, about 150 vehicles, including tanks and armoured transporters, as well as about 2,800 troops.

The Serbian Army mainly uses former Soviet technology, but in recent years Belgrade has acquired MiG-29 fighter aircraft and other weapons from Russia, including Mi-35 helicopters and the Pannar air defence system, which was demonstrated on Saturday.

Serbia, which is a candidate for membership in the European Union, declared military neutrality in 2006. It joined the NATO Partnership for Peace Programme, though it does not seek full membership in the Western defence alliance.