Vucic: Serbia to Make Large-Scale Investment in Defense Sector, Army

Members of the Army of Serbia

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that “the Army of Serbia needs to be much stronger” than it was, even though “it’s already incomparably stronger than it used to be.”

“We need to invest enormous amounts of money into the defense industry and army. We are careful not to harm anything or anyone at home while drastically improving our operative and functional potentials, or rather, combat readiness,” Vucic said during a visit to the IDEX 2023 arms fair in Abu Dhabi.

The president said that the plan for 2023 and 2024 was to add to the army arsenal 200 pieces of heavy military equipment made at home, worth close to EUR300 million. Vucic also said that foreign buyers expressed keen interest in Serbian weapons.

The president also warned that Pristina intended to buy 100 armored vehicles by the end of the year, using donations for some of the purchases, which was “contrary to the U.N. Security Council Resolution 1244.”

President Vucic also explained that the special units of the Army of Serbia, to which 5,000 troops should be added in a recently opened competition, would include light infantry, assault battalions and heavy infantry, i.e. joint tactical combat forces.