Russia is not hindered by the purchase of French fighter jets from Serbia, Stradner: Serbian-Russian cooperation continues

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced a 3-billion-dollar deal to buy twelve French fighter jets during a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday.

This decision by Serbia has not hindered Russia, even though it is in conflict with the West over its aggression in Ukraine.

“The decision to buy the French Rafale fighter jets is Serbia’s free decision,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a conference.

“This is the decision of our Serbian friends,” Peskov said. “Of course, every country is guided by economic and other considerations when making such decisions,” he added.

Ivana Stradner, a researcher at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, has an explanation for Russia’s stance.

She says that Russia does not care, as Serbia will not leave the country and will continue cooperation with its traditional ally.

“And of course Russia doesn’t care … because this will not change the calculations that Serbia is making in the field of security. “Moscow and Serbia will continue to cooperate closely in the field of security and intelligence,” she wrote, adding that the purchase of aircraft was a strategy of Vucic.

“No, this is not a turning away from Russia. “This is Vucic’s strategy to buy Paris so that he can stay in power as long as possible … this is exactly what Putin has been doing for two decades,” she wrote.

This move by Serbia was seen by France and the EU as an attempt to free Serbia from its dependence on Russia.

The French media outlet “France 24” writes that French officials have described this as a strategy to bring Serbia closer to the European Union.

Macron called the agreement “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 protect its interests,” Macron said.

“The country of Serbia is in the EU and it has a duty to be a role model for the entire region.”

Serbia officially aspires to membership of the European Union, but under Vučić’s increasingly autocratic rule it has made little progress in the areas of rule of law and democratic reform, which are key requirements for membership of the 27-nation bloc.

Serbia continues to play between the West and Russia and also China. However, it still refuses to impose sanctions on Russia over its brutal war in Ukraine.

/TheGeopost