The Serbian army becomes the strongest in the Western Balkans
Among all the countries of the Western Balkans last 2019, Serbia spent the most money on weapons.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute reported this according to Radio Free Europe, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
According to the Swedish Institute, Serbia's military spending last year amounted to $1,14 billion, which is $326 million or 43% more than in 2018. At the same time, Serbia quite sharply overtook Croatia, which in 2018 became the region’s leader in arms spending; the latter spent a billion dollars on armaments in 2019. Statistics for the rest of the Western Balkan countries look like this: Albania - 198 million dollars, Bosnia and Herzegovina - 183 million, North Macedonia - 151 million, Montenegro - 89,3 million, the quasi-state entity "Republic of Kosovo", which received its own army last year - 65,7, XNUMX million dollars.
At the same time, Radio Free Europe, which is a division of the American propaganda Radio Liberty, noted that in recent years Serbia has been increasingly armed by Russia. At the same time, Serbia’s military investments were “characterized by a lack of transparency in financing,” and the radio station was unable to get an answer from the Serbian Ministry of Defense on how much the purchase of Russian military equipment cost the Serbian budget.
Previously Croatian publication "Dnevno" complained that while Croatia cannot afford to purchase new fighters, which, in his opinion, puts an end to the country’s military aviation, Serbia is actively modernizing its air force and air defense.
“The Serbs have updated their military aviation in a relatively short period of time, purchasing modernized MiG-29s from Russia and Belarus,” wrote the Croatian publication. – They purchased long-range unmanned aerial vehicles from China, some of which are capable of carrying guided missiles and bombs... Despite threats from the United States, the Serbs also managed to restore their air defense system by purchasing the powerful Russian Pantsir S1 missile and artillery system. At the heart of today's Serbian politics is a balance between east and west. During military procurement they made sure to buy a little from the East and a little from the West. In particular, when purchasing nine helicopters, they chose European Puma, Mi-35 and Mi-17 from the Russians.”
The Croatians also referred to the opinion of US instructors, who stated that the Croatian Air Force has enough helicopters. In general, it should be noted that a rather sharp reduction in the armed forces and their equipment is taking place in all Balkan countries that have recently joined NATO, which indicates that Brussels is focusing on old proven members, and from the rear of the Western Balkans it needs territories, infrastructure and limited manpower to carry out local combat missions on other continents.
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