EU: Serbia should avoid strategic dependencies outside the European path, after buying missiles from China

2026-03-13 20:16:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

EU: Serbia should avoid strategic dependencies outside the European path, after

The European Union (EU) said on Friday that Serbia is required to make clear strategic choices on its European path, after Belgrade purchased supersonic ballistic missiles from China.

A European Commission spokesperson said that "this includes avoiding strategic dependencies that are incompatible with this objective."

The spokesperson added that "a credible European path implies a commitment to regional stability and a shared understanding of the security challenges facing our continent."

On Thursday, Serbian President Aleksandar Vu?i? admitted that his country had purchased CM-400 missiles with great destructive power from China, prompting reactions from neighboring countries.

With this purchase, Serbia became the first country, after Pakistan, to obtain CM-400 missiles from China.

According to internationally available weapons registries, Serbia is the only country in Europe that possesses them, while it is surrounded by NATO member states.

NATO did not respond to Radio Free Europe's questions on this issue.

Meanwhile, Andrej Plenkovic, the prime minister of Croatia, which is a permanent member of the military alliance, announced that he would notify other NATO members about this.

"We will talk to our partners in the North Atlantic Alliance and warn them about this type of weaponry, which is a novelty in the arsenal of the Serbian army," Plenkovic said on Thursday.

On the other hand, Kosovo's Defense Minister, Ejup Maqedonci, told Radio Free Europe on Friday that the claims of Serbian authorities that they are arming themselves to protect themselves from neighboring countries do not hold up, and with recent purchases of Chinese weapons they are revealing their hegemonic tendencies in relation to these countries.

"Purchases from Russia and China have been made for several years and continue to be made, so it is not related to any current threat to Serbia...no neighboring state of Serbia has in any case shown any aggressive or offensive intentions in relation to Serbia," the Macedonian stressed.

He added that Serbia is "the one that is making territorial claims towards Kosovo."

According to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), in the period 2020–2024, Serbia imported the most weapons from China (57%), followed by Russia (20%) and France (7.4%).

Croatia's Prime Minister, Andrej Plenkovic, has reacted to Serbia's purchase, warning that he will discuss the issue with the NATO alliance.

Reacting to Plenkovic's statement, Vu?i? said that "Zagreb will not decide what Serbia will have."

He said that Serbia "is preparing for the possibility of an attack by the alliance being formed by Pristina, Tirana and Zagreb."

In March 2025, Croatia, Albania and Kosovo signed a Declaration on cooperation in the field of defense and security, which Serbian officials described as a threat to Serbia's security./ Rel