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Western Balkans states ramp up military capability
from MONITOR 32
Western Balkan states are ramping up their military capabilities, with Serbia, Croatia and Kosovo announcing deliveries of modern weapons and aircraft from the USA, Russia, China and Turkey this year. Balkans specialist Vera Le Quesne-Papic reports.
The arms purchases were coupled with announcements in Serbia and Croatia of the introduction of mandatory army service, reported by Al Jazeera Balkans TV and other regional media. Kosovo, whose status is still in question, as Serbia does not recognise its independence, does not have an army as such but has continued to train up its special armed forces.
Serbia has continued to head the Global Fire Power index as the country with the strongest army in the Western Balkans, ranking as the 56th country in the world in this year’s report. Croatia ranks 66th, Albania 90th, North Macedonia 110th, Bosnia-Hercegovina 116th, and Montenegro 129th, out of 145 countries assessed.
Serbia recently said it would significantly invest in further boosting its army and arms stockpiles. This coincided with the start of the Steadfast Defender 2024 drill, billed as Nato’s largest military exercise since the end of the Cold War. They also coincided with a spate of visits by top Nato officials to the region and a more intense focus on the Western Balkans, both by the West and Russia.
Serbia will “respond appropriately” to the recent military agreement between Turkey and Kosovo
Serbia
Serbia has announced it will form drone units in its army. President Aleksandar Vucic said on 30 January that the army planned “substantially” to increase its stockpiles of domestically produced kamikaze drones this year. Speaking to journalists at an arms fair at the Topcider army base near Belgrade, he stressed the need for a robust army that was fully prepared for any eventuality, considering the current global situation, public broadcaster RTS reported.
“In the modern world, as you can see, the madness continues every day... And I am afraid that it will get worse. With what we are doing, we are protecting our country,” he said. He said the plans included expanding troop numbers and introducing compulsory military service later this year. For all this, there will be substantial new funding, which he said would also be needed for the 850-plus new weapons systems to be purchased from Serbia’s domestic arms industry in the next few years.
Vucic also revealed that Serbia had imported the Russian mobile antidrone system for electronic jamming, Repellent, announcing that it would be presented on 15 February at the Nis army base as part of celebrations marking Serbia’s Statehood Day. He did not specify when the system was imported, but said it was purchased “a long time ago”, the Balkan branch of Radio Free Europe reported. On the same day, Russian outlet Sputnik in Serbian carried a summary of the system’s capabilities and features.
Vucic also said Serbia was “close to completing the third battery of the FK-3 air defence missile system from China”, without further details. Last autumn, Defence Minister Mios Vucevic discussed the purchase of military equipment with China, especially drones and air defence systems, and announced closer bilateral defence and military ties.
Minister Vucevic, who was also present at the Topcider base alongside the army chief, Gen Milan Mojsilovic, echoed Vucic’s statements and said the drive to boost the army was in response to the general global situation and had nothing to do with Kosovo. But he said that Serbia will “respond appropriately” to the recent military agreement between Turkey and Kosovo, stressing Serbia’s “commitment to safeguarding its territorial integrity”.
Kosovo
At the end of January, Kosovo signed a Military Framework Agreement with Turkey with a view to boosting military ties. Last summer, Kosovo bought a batch of Turkish Bayraktar drones. In autumn, a senior Turkish officer took over the command of the Nato-led Kfor forces, to Serbia’s disapproval.
Also in January, it was widely reported that the US had agreed to sell Javelin anti-tank missiles and related equipment to Kosovo for $75m, fuelling more concern in Serbia.
Kosovo’s military experts and pundits saw Serbia’s announcements, especially Vucic’s disclosure that Serbia plans to spend some 740m euros on arms procurement, as a response to the military build-up in the region, as reported by Albanianlanguage website Koha.
Tensions have continued to brew between Kosovo and Serbia since a deadly clash between Kosovo forces and Serb gunmen in the former. Since then, the Nato-led Kfor mission has boosted its forces, with additional reinforcements announced this month.
A further eight new Black Hawk helicopters
Croatia buys Black Hawks, considers mandatory army service
At the end of January, Croatia announced that the purchase of a further eight new Black Hawk helicopters from the US. The value of the contract is estimated at $500m, TV channel Nova reported. The army already has four such helicopters – two were donated by the Americans, and two were bought.
In December, regional media reported the arrival in Croatia of 22 Bradley fighting vehicles as part of the first batch of second-hand vehicles it had purchased from the US. The first batch and the remaining 89 Bradleys will be overhauled and modernised at a local factory, with the first vehicle due to become operational by July 2024. This procurement will boost the Croatian army’s capacities, strengthen Nato’s role in the region and also strengthen Croatian and US defence cooperation, the US embassy said at the time.
Croatia also announced in January that it was considering introducing compulsory military service lasting at least a month. The defence ministry confirmed the plans after widely reported leaks in the media, public broadcaster HRT reported. Gen Marko Gresic told HRT that talks had started last year and the consensus was that it should be longer, four or five months, it was widely reported.
Stockpiles of domestically produced kamikaze drones
Amassing troops at joint borders
Croatia and Serbia have also been reported to be massing troops at their joint border. According to the Serbianlanguage military-focused Balkan Security Network (BSN) website, Serbia currently has more troops stationed there than Croatia, while both countries have also deployed river flotillas.
