On the 22nd, Bloomberg published an article regarding Serbian President Vučić's visit to China, stating: "Serbia is the only European country outside Belarus equipped with advanced Chinese weapons." It speculated that "Vučić’s visit to China may aim to procure Chinese fighter jets, a move that would bring Serbia dangerously close to the red line set by the EU on China-related cooperation."
This Bloomberg report hinges on a gripping narrative: a Balkan nation striving to join the EU has already pushed the limits of Brussels’ tolerance through its military "Sinicization" process. The report is not baseless—it precisely targets a "pressure triangle" formed by defense procurement, geopolitics, and accession negotiations.
Bloomberg’s argument rests on a factual premise: Serbia stands out as an anomaly in Europe when it comes to acquiring advanced weapons from China.
Serbia has become the first country in Europe to deploy and formally induct the Chinese FK-3 medium-to-long-range air defense missile system into its armed forces—a cornerstone of its national air defense architecture.
The Serbian Air Force has successfully integrated China-made CM-400AKG supersonic anti-ground missiles onto its Russian-made MiG-29 fighters, significantly enhancing its deep-strike capabilities. This also includes Chinese-made drones such as the CH-92A, which together form part of Serbia’s broader "Chinese-armed" equipment ecosystem.
The EU has used accession talks as its primary instrument to constrain Serbia. The European Commission has clearly warned that further deepening defense ties with China could jeopardize Serbia’s EU accession prospects. Serbia’s alignment rate with the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy has now dropped to 52%, and defense procurement issues are increasingly being politicized.
Observers believe that if Serbia were to purchase Chinese fighter jets, complex issues such as friendly fire identification systems and data links would deeply bind it to China’s operational framework, leading to a "hard decoupling" from NATO and EU systems.
Bloomberg’s article serves as a political warning from Western media about the evolving trajectory of the “ironclad friendship” between China and Serbia. It accurately captures the contradiction faced by Serbia between its strategic goal of joining the EU and its pursuit of diversified military cooperation, elevating what might otherwise be a routine defense procurement decision to a matter of strategic significance for Europe’s security landscape.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1865904033286156/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.