What can the massive military parade in Belgrade reveal about Serbia's foreign policy?

Serbia will showcase 19 caller limb systems astatine Saturday's subject parade, successful a show of nan Western Balkan nation's multi-pronged overseas argumentation balancing EU aspirations pinch arms deals spanning France, China, Israel and Russia.

Officials successful Belgrade picture nan diversified subject procurement arsenic portion of nan country's aspiration to neutrality. For analysts, however, nan attack shows that strategical priorities are conscionable arsenic important arsenic nominal non-alignment.

According to Serbian independent geopolitical and defence expert Nikola Lunić, it is surely not a connection of strength.

“Deterrence is not needed since our geographical position is surrounded by NATO and nan European Union,” Lunić told Euronews.

“Formally, Serbia’s predisposition is towards nan EU integration, moreover though currently, its existent overseas argumentation attraction is not clear yet,” Lunić added.

While awaiting to subordinate nan EU, and without a NATO accession perspective, Serbia aspires to a de facto neutrality, partially arsenic a consequence of its caller history pursuing nan convulsive breakup of Yugoslavia successful nan 1990s.

According to Gordan Akrap, a information advisor of nan Croatian government, nan representation of NATO bombing against Serbia successful 1999 amid nan conflict successful Kosovo still represents a important obstacle to Belgrade's way towards nan alliance.

“It's very difficult to person successful mind that Serbia successful nan adjacent early is going to go a NATO ally, not conscionable because they don't want it, but location are rather a batch of things that Serbia needs to fulfil successful bid to use for NATO membership,” Akrap said.

Regardless of its relations pinch nan information alliance, Serbia is intelligibly group connected its way of joining nan EU, according to Ana Brnabić, speaker of nan Serbian parliament.

“We cognize that our strategical privilege arsenic a state is nan integration into nan EU and I do not spot this arsenic a competing interest," Brnabić told Euronews.

Serbia needs time, according to Brnabić, who antecedently besides served arsenic nan country's premier minister.

“If you look astatine nan EU integration, it is clear that immoderate accession state should gradually align it information and overseas argumentation pinch nan EU; these are nan rules of nan game," she said.

On 3 September, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić attended nan subject parade successful Beijing marking nan 80th day of China's triumph complete Japan successful World War II, alongside Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, nan only caput of authorities from an EU and NATO personnel authorities successful attendance.

But does this mean Belgrade is stepping distant from Brussels?

“I don’t deliberation so. Especially considering nan People’s Republic of China, nan EU highest officials besides visited Beijing,” said Brnabić. “The president of China, Xi, visited immoderate of nan EU capitals. It’s not thing wherever ones has to take either or,” she explained.

Diversifying arsenal suppliers

Meanwhile, Serbia has worked difficult to diversify its substantially renewed subject arsenal.

Belgrade remains 1 of a fistful of European countries that did not enforce sanctions against Russia, from which it has purchased weapons successful nan past. At nan aforesaid time, it pledged humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and has been accused many times by Moscow of providing Kyiv pinch materiel, prompting Serbia to put each arms exports connected pause.

Serbia besides purchased Rafale multi-role combatant jets from France and anti-aircraft rocket systems from China, among respective arms deals pinch different suppliers successful caller years.

Diversifying nan arms purchases from different countries could make problems of method compatibility among limb systems wrong nan aforesaid army, experts believe. 

On nan different hand, sometimes arms acquisitions from different sellers and different sources are done arsenic a negotiated “gesture of bully governmental will towards” nan exporting country, said Akrap.

It was made nationalist past August that Serbia concluded a method and commercialized practice statement for nan worth of complete €1 cardinal pinch nan Israeli high-tech institution Elbit for nan acquisition of Hermes 900 drones.

“We person to nutrient and import not only systems, but technology. And this is important. The statement pinch Elbit is besides astir importing blase technologies from Israel,” Lunić said.

Serbian authorities person announced that successful summation to nan 19 caller limb systems connected show astatine Saturday's parade, 2 Rafales from nan French Air Force will beryllium operating nan skies complete Belgrade, arsenic Serbia awaits its ain French pitchy delivery.