Good news for the French aeronautics industry? Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Wednesday, August 28, that he hoped to conclude the highly anticipated purchase of Rafale fighter jets this week during Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Belgrade.
“This is a huge contract for our country and it is not a small contract even for France,” the Serbian president said in this exclusive interview with AFP, referring to a transaction that could amount to several billion euros without specifying the number of planes involved. The French president is expected in Serbia on Thursday for a two-day visit during which the two leaders are expected to sign several bilateral agreements.
In the past, the Serbian Defense Minister had assured that his country intended to buy 12 combat aircraft from France to replace its aging fleet. And in 2023, President Vucic had hinted that Serbia was ready to pay 3 billion euros for this transaction. “Most of our aircraft, if not all, all of our interceptor aircraft and all of our combat aircraft came from Russia and we have to evolve, change our habits and everything else before we prepare our army,” said the Serbian president. Indeed, as recalled The Worldthe Serbian army so far only has old Soviet Mig-29s.
If finalized, this transaction would join a series of arms contracts concluded by Belgrade in Europe, China and Russia, made possible by the increase in the country’s military budget over the last decade.