Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Thursday opened a military drone factory jointly operated by an unnamed Israeli company, as Belgrade flags plans to produce and export drones.
Announcing the opening on Instagram, Vucic did not disclose the factory’s location or the Israeli firm involved, saying journalists were excluded from the opening because of “the confidentiality of the production process”.
But previous reporting by investigative outlet BIRN and Israeli newspaper Haaretz identified the partner in a drone factory as Israeli defence firm Elbit Systems — criticised over its role in operations in Gaza and the West Bank.
“I opened a factory assembling state-of-the-art Israeli-made drones,” Vucic wrote, adding it will “produce equipment for Serbia’s armed forces and those of other countries”.
“Our plans are huge. We believe that with our Israeli partners we will open at least three more factories across Serbia,” Vucic wrote, as he posted footage of him touring the facility with Israeli ambassador Avivit Bar-Ilan.
The earlier report said Elbit would hold 51 percent of the venture and Serbian state-owned Yugoimport-SDPR 49 percent, producing short- and long-range drones.
Neither side has commented on the reports.
– Armed robot dogs and Chinese missiles –
Serbia has faced scrutiny over arms exports to Israel, which BIRN and Haaretz said rose from 1.4 million euros ($1.6 million) in 2023 to 42.3 million euros in 2024.
During a visit to Serbia earlier this year, UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese said Belgrade remained one of Israel’s “most steadfast and determined allies” despite calls for more countries to restrict weapons exports due to the war in Gaza.
Belgrade has also announced a slew of new weapons purchases and production in recent months, as European leaders ramp up defence spending.
Serbia has confirmed it had purchased Chinese-made CM-400AKG supersonic missiles and has flagged the production of long-range ballistic missiles within a year as part of a cooperation with Uzbekistan.
In recent weeks Vucic has also shown off armed robot dogs and signalled an expectation that a Chinese firm could soon produce military robots in the country.
Serbia is one of the few countries in the Western Balkans that is not a NATO member and has invested heavily in its military to “preserve neutrality”.
But it is also one of the few European countries to maintain close ties with Moscow since the invasion of Ukraine, and has previously purchased Russian weapons.