Aleksandar Vucic: If we had the S-400 missiles, no one would dare to fly over Serbia

 

 Serbia's President, Aleksandar Vucic, thanked Russia for sending sophisticated missiles to joint air defense exercises. Visiting a military airport near Belgrade, he said he was impressed by what Russian land-air systems can do.

"We are grateful to our Russian friends who have dramatically increased our defense capabilities," Vucic said.

Russia's Defense Ministry has announced that its S-400 and Pantsir-S missile systems are participating in joint exercises with Serbian forces in Serbia.

The S-400 system will return to Russia after six days of training, with Vucic saying his government has purchased the Pantsir-S system.

"We're talking about fantastic systems. If we had the S-400, no one would dare to fly over Serbia,” Vucic said.

NATO bombed Serbia in 1999 to stop violence in Kosovo. Serbia maintains close political and economic ties with Russia, even though says it aims to join the European Union.

Belgrade has pledged to stay out of NATO and has refused to comply with Western sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine.
Russia has contributed to the Serbian army with fighter jets, military helicopters, and tanks. In another development Friday, Serbia signed a free trade agreement with the Russian-led Euro-Asian Economic Union.