Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said that the Serbian armed forces are “stronger than ever” and stressed that “few people know” what weapons have been acquired in recent years because this has been “done in secret.”

According to him, Pristina, Zagreb, and Tirana are “forming a military alliance” and constantly inviting Sofia to join them, so Serbia is “forced to arm itself.” He specified that the Serbian army will show what it has at its disposal at a large military parade in September.

“We have hidden huge changes in the Serbian armed forces. At most, five people know what we have brought in, and our goal is to defend our country,” Vucic said, as quoted by N1 and Danas.

Vucic said that Serbia has also concealed many capabilities it has acquired and that “many will be surprised” when they see what the army has. He added that this makes the army “incredibly deadly.”

Vucic claims that Serbia has been repeatedly observed by drones from NATO member states and that they have been detected on Serbian territory, but Serbia has not responded “so that they don't know what we have.” He stressed that under the new military doctrine, the Serbian armed forces must have “unmatched power to preserve freedom.” He also announced that “many types of drones” would be included in the arsenal.

Kosovo, Albania, and Croatia signed a Declaration on Cooperation in the Field of Security and Defense on March 18. It is described as a trilateral document that strengthens cooperation and emphasizes the importance of joint responses to security challenges, hybrid threats, and other risks that could threaten regional stability, with the signatories denying that they are seeking to create a military alliance.

Vučić also stated that Serbia is not a threat to neighbouring countries and that it “will not fire the first shot”, but remains vigilant. “We are surrounded by NATO countries, who can we threaten - no one. But we must be ready to defend our country,” he said.

The Serbian president announced that Belgrade is expecting talks with the US administration soon on the Serbian oil industry (NIS).

NIS announced on June 20 that it had sent a new request to the US Treasury Department for a special license to delay the full implementation of sanctions imposed due to Russia's ownership of NIS.

The purpose of this request is to allow NIS to operate after June 27, when the previous license issued on April 25 expires.

NIS was sanctioned for so-called “secondary risk,” i.e., its connection to Russia's Gazprom Neft, which is under Western sanctions due to Russia's aggression against Ukraine. | BGNES