Serbia announces US$3 billion deal to buy 12 French warplanes, in shift away from Russia

French president called the jet deal ‘historic and important’, and said it showed Serbia’s ‘strategic courage’

Reading Time:2 minutes

French President Emmanuel Macron clasps hands with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. Photo: AP

Published: 6:52pm, 29 Aug 2024Updated: 2:28pm, 30 Aug 2024

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced a US$3 billion deal to buy 12 French warplanes, in a move that shifts his country away from its dependence on Russian arms.

The announcement about the Rafale multipurpose fighter jets was made during a joint news conference in Belgrade on Thursday with French President Emmanuel Macron during a two-day visit to Serbia as part of what French officials have called a strategy of bringing Serbia closer to the European Union.

Macron called the deal “historic and important”, and said it showed Serbia’s “strategic courage”.

″The European Union needs a strong and democratic Serbia at its side and Serbia needs a strong, sovereign Europe to defend its interests,″ Macron said. ″Serbia’s place is in the EU, and it has a role to play to be an example for all the region.”

A French Rafale fighter jet. File photo: AFP

Serbia is formally seeking European Union membership, but under Vucic’s increasingly autocratic rule it has made little progress in the fields of rule of law and democratic reforms, which are the main preconditions for membership in the 27-nation bloc.