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Written by Drago Bosnic, independent geopolitical and military analyst
On August 29, French President Emmanuel Macron started his official two-day visit to Serbia. One of the most important deals between the two countries was Belgrade’s acquisition of Dassault Aviation’s “Rafale” supersonic multirole fighter jets. According to the €2.7 billion ($3 billion) contract, Paris will deliver 12 aircraft in the 2028-2030 timeframe. The deal has sparked quite a lot of controversy in Serbia, where military experts and the populace alike were not exactly thrilled, as many favored Russian or at least Chinese-made aircraft. And indeed, from a purely military standpoint, “Rafales” (although undoubtedly potent platforms) are still inferior to Moscow’s high-end jets such as the Su-30 (in either of its numerous variants). To say nothing of the true heavyweights such as the Su-35 or MiG-31.
But to make matters worse, from a financial standpoint, Serbia is paying an exorbitant amount, as those $3 billion would go a long way for its military that otherwise could’ve acquired several times more at least equally potent Russian weapons (and even more Chinese ones). Unfortunately, Belgrade’s strategically disastrous geopolitical position (and simple geography) means that its options are only bad and worse. Obviously, it chose the lesser of two evils, but this is still quite frustrating to the Serbian people. However, the government needs to keep looking for ways to prevent the complete isolation of the country, which is why cooperation with the political West is a must. Not to mention the constant pressure from the world’s most aggressive power pole, as it keeps forcing Belgrade to renounce its ties with Russia.
The US-led political West only wants 100% compliant vassals and satellite states, so it’s often trying to force Serbia to side with the Kiev regime in the so-called “international organizations”, where America and NATO also keep escalating pressure by demonizing both the country and the Serbian people. There’s no good way of dodging this sort of coercion, as the leadership in Belgrade is stuck between the overwhelmingly pro-Russian populace on one side, and Washington DC and Brussels on the other. The latter two are determined to crush whatever’s left of Serbia’s independence, so they could eliminate it both as a potential pro-Russian/BRICS player in Europe and also continue exploiting the country’s resources for their own gain. This also includes the potential transfer of Serbian weapons to the Neo-Nazi junta.
This is already happening, as NATO members such as Turkey are sending Serbian-made munitions to the Kiev regime, which is illegal and constitutes a breach of contract. The political West is doing the same with other third parties buying weapons from Belgrade. This is then used by the Neo-Nazi junta to spread lies about Serbia allegedly supplying arms and munitions directly to its forces. Expectedly, this is causing strong reactions both in Russia and Serbia, fomenting division and mistrust between the two centuries-old allies. Realizing that this could be used to completely destroy friendly relations between Moscow and Belgrade, NATO fully supports the dissemination of such propaganda. Unfortunately, even sources in Serbia and Russia sometimes fall for this, spreading lies that hurt both countries and peoples.
Namely, at the time of Macron’s visit, some sources in Moscow published reports that Belgrade allegedly got a discount from France by agreeing to send 36 MiG-29s to the Kiev regime. Oliver Galich of the PolitNavigator recently posted an article about this, quoting political scientists and certain Telegram channels. One such source, specifically the Oktagon, claimed that “the 3 billion euro contract also contains a clause (worth approximately 390 million US dollars) for Serbia to partially pay for the deal with 36 MIG-29 fighters”, adding that “three squadrons of Russian fighters will be transferred to the French side in December” and that “the MiGs’ further route [is] Ukraine”. What’s more, according to Oktagon, Serbia allegedly “notified Moscow of this point of the deal”. Could these shocking claims be true?
Well, let’s start with the basics. How many MiG-29s does Serbia have? The answer is 14, of which at least one serves for “cannibalizing” (its parts are used to service flightworthy jets). Three of the original aircraft were bought from the USSR in 1987, while the rest were donated by Russia (6) and Belarus (4) in 2017 and 2019, respectively. Thus, if Belgrade were to sell 36 MiG-29s to the Kiev regime, it would be left with exactly -22. If you think this calculation is silly, you’re 100% right, it’s completely ridiculous, just like the claim that Serbia is sending these jets to Ukraine. On the other hand, the “Rafale” deal stipulates France to start deliveries in 2028. Since the French aircraft for the Serbian military will be built from scratch, delays are virtually guaranteed, meaning that the likely date might be pushed beyond 2030. Why is this important?
It’s simple, because if Belgrade were to deliver its 36 MiG-29s (remember, 14 + the non-existent 22) to the Neo-Nazi junta by December, this means it’ll be left without any fighter aircraft fleet. Who in their right mind thinks that a country that just spent $3 billion on fighter jets (meaning that it considers such aircraft a top priority) would renounce its entire fleet for a discount in a contract that will be finalized in 4-5 years from now (in the best case scenario)? In addition, even if there was an agreement that Serbia would send its jets to the Kiev regime after the “Rafales” arrive (once again, no sooner than 2028, but most likely after 2030), will the Neo-Nazi junta be around to receive the aircraft? Worse yet, considering the insanity ruling the political West, it’s highly questionable whether the world itself will be around 4-5 years from now.
Another important aspect is the reaction of the Serbian people if any anti-Russian deals like this were to materialize. Back in 2022, there was an uproar among millions of Serbs when a pro-NATO politician only suggested that Belgrade should send tanks and armored vehicles (also donated by Russia) to the Kiev regime. The government had to rebuke this politician and issue statements that such a deal was never even in consideration. Thus, the very idea that Serbia, completely surrounded by NATO, would willingly renounce its only fighter jets for a promise of Western-made ones in 4-5 years is simply ludicrous, even when not taking into account the numerous completely illogical aspects of this story. People who disseminate such lies are only fomenting unnecessary distrust between the two brotherly nations.
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of course they do. all the equipment of the former eastern bloc ended up in ukraine, either directly or indirectly. everyone knows that russia is a corrupt shithole. the patience of russia’s former allies is at an end. look at what lavrov’s has done to syria. omar fields are still in u.s. hands. russian forces are protecting u.s. military bases against iranian proxies. the russian army protects israeli jets against syrian air defenses. wtf.
you’re partly correct but you don’t acknowledge who they are. you need to revise your history russias tsar alexander sent the entire russian navy to defend the usa against a joint british france invasion. he was blown up and his kids murdered. join the dots.
remember about 85% of the alleged bolsheviks were actually brooklyn born and raised american catholics and alleged jews. remember trotsky was totally funded in millions by americans to bring down the tsar alexander’s family. they cover all the bases they are not patriots to anything but universal totalitarianism.
there were no american catholics within bolshevik ranks. only jews of american and german origin and one negro.
ok, so let’s call them papists or jesuits. satisfied? the holy roman empire and its norse mercenaries is at the root of all the violence today and has been since before 1054.
so much “wrong” there is simply not enough space to parce out just how much bullshit you are trying to spead on your empty dead fields of hopium.
serbia has sold 7.8 millions euro worth of ammunition last month to the israheli idf and 23 million euro worth in total of ammo since the start of this year. arms trafficking know no boundaries or permanent allegiances. they know these ammunitions will be used ti kill palestinian civilians,
omar oil field are being attacked everyweek while pro russia assad is the president of syria and not western puppet fsa, iran have weapons inside russian base of latakia despite israel claims as many times irani il 76 have landed there. corrupt and incompetent russian generals are being removed and competent generals like mordicheev, teplensky, yunus-bek..etc.. are now more relevants
what serbia president is doing is treason. this article like many in past 12 years are just exuses for public.
what he’s doing is totally predictable his geographic location makes serbia the meat in the sandwich they’re utterly vulnerable if they side with russia they’re bombed into bits by nato if they side with nato they’re blown to smithereens by russia. it’s just common sense.
russia let nato bomb them twice without doing something about it. when finally they wanted to send help the usa called the eastern european contries between rusia and serbia to not let them through. threats to shoot down rusian planes made them back out then and would now. there is no world in which russia will help serbia more then with words. ask the people of karabakh you will find them living in armenia as refugees.
just another excuse to steer serbia in nato direction
i dont live in serbia. if the serbs think this is the way to prevent nato bombs to fall on them so be it. what do the russians want to do attack every country that sold weapons to ukraine. the list is very long including sco and brics members.
just another excuse to steet serbia in nato direction
russia should recognize kosovo and set up embassy and military base there.
yeah and then be called war criminals annexing sovereign nations.
what serbian president did is treason. this article.like many others in serbia for the past 12 years is just an excuse for public.
the serbian president is a cia asset. my fellow serbs accept this because many of them have been brainwashed into the lifestyle of the western way. if they don’t reorient themselves soon they will become like poland or bulgaria, slave puppets of the vatican/collective west. they will become meat for the grinder and we will disappear as a real nation.
too late wakey wakey.
no it’s not, go back to sleep.
the pope went there preceding all of the latest activity now he’s in indonesia wait and see the militaisation there very soon.
it’s a bad deal. serbia should wake up and smell the coffee. any help given to the zionist nazi nato adventure in ukraine will not go unnoticed by russia and her allies or the serbian citizens sympathetic with russians and their cause. a very bad deal, with a france that is a traitor to its own people, and what deal can you expect france not to break or back out on, like minsk 1 or minsk 2, or stolen russia assests? you simply can’t trust any g9 aipac captured government.
serbian governemnt collaborate very well with zionist government. check the serbian arms sales.
servian gov also was subservient to any occupier in course of history. drago is little dick. i got big.
let’s hope the article writer is correct.. or bullciv is selling out :)
serbniggers backstabbing the russians who saved them during the balkan wars. vucic chud is at it again.
“people who disseminate such lies are only fomenting unnecessary distrust between the two brotherly nations.” if you want proof this is true, just read thru the comments below. sorry folks, divide & conquer won’t work anymore.slava russiya!