China sent rockets to Serbia

Russia's ally Serbia has accepted a shipment of a sophisticated Chinese antiaircraft system this weekend, writes the Associated Press.

This shipment comes as the West worries that a collection of weapons in the Balkans, at the time when the war in Ukraine is continuing, could threaten the fragile peace in the region.

Media and military experts said Sunday that six Chinese Air Force carriers landed at Belgrade's civilian airport on Saturday morning. These planes have reportedly transported HQ-22 land-air systems for the Serbian Army.

Chinese transport planes with military marks were seen at Belgrade's Nikola Tesla airport. Serbia's Defence Ministry has not immediately answered the AP's questions on the subject.

Sending weapons to at least two NATO states, Turkey and Bulgaria, according to experts, shows the rise in China's global alignment.

“Avian transporters Y-20 raised concerns because they flew massively, instead of a series of flights via a”, the magazine The Warzone wrote online. According to this magazine, the presence of these planes in Europe “is also a very new development”.

Serbian military analyst Aleksandar Radic said that the <x0ocines demonstrated their strength”.

Serbia's President Aleksandar Vuciq has confirmed the delivery of the medium-range action system, for which Belgrade and Beijing were hired in 2019. He said on Saturday, April 9th, that he will present the Serbian Army's newest “secretariat” on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Earlier, Vuciq had complained that NATO states, which make up most of Serbia's neighbours, are refusing to allow aircraft with supplies of these systems to fly over their territories amid tensions due to Russia's aggression in Ukraine.

Although Serbia has voted for UN resolutions condemning Russia's war in Ukraine, Belgrade has refused to join international sanctions against Moscow. He has also refused to criticise atrocities allegedly committed by Russian troops in Ukraine.

In 2020, American officials had warned Belgrade against providing HQ-22 anti-aircraft systems. The export version of these systems is known as FK-3. They said that if Serbia really wants to join the European Union and other Western alliances, it must harmonise its military equipment with Western standards.

This Chinese missile system is widely compared to the American system Patriot and Russian Air Defense System S-300. However, the Chinese system has a shorter range of action than S-300. Serbia will be the first state in Europe to have Chinese missiles.

Serbia has waged war with its neighbours in the 1990s. This state, which officially demands membership in the EU, has only reinforced its armed forces with Russian and Chinese weapons, including fighter aircraft, tanks and other equipment.

In 2020, Serbia had accepted a shipment of the Chengdu Pterodactil-1 type, known in China as Wing Loong. These threats are capable of hitting bombs and rockets and can also be used for intelligence missions.

According to the Associated Press, in the West it fears that Serbia's arming with weapons from Russia and China could encourage this Balkan state to another war, separately against Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008. Serbia, Russia and China do not recognise Kosovo citizenship, meanwhile, the United States and most Western states recognise Kosovo's independence. / REL