Serbia, a NATO partner and candidate for EU membership, has bought Chinese missiles for its air force.
The Balkan state is now the first European power armed with Chinese CM-400AKG missiles, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Thursday.
“We have a significant number of those missiles, and we will have even more,” he said during a live appearance on state broadcaster RTS TV.
He made the announcement after images of the missiles mounted on Serbian warplanes were leaked online, according to Sky’s US partner network NBC News.
Mr Vucic said the country’s air force had adapted its Soviet-made MiG-29 fighter jets to carry the air-to-surface missiles.
He declined to say how much Serbia paid, only it had received a “slight discount”.
A MiG-29 jet of the Serbian Air Force. File pic: Michael Kappeler/picture-alliance/dpa/AP
Despite being a traditional ally of Russia, Serbia is a candidate for EU membership and participates in a partnership scheme with NATO.
Its purchase of the missiles is already causing friction with EU and NATO neighbours.
Croatia – which fought Serbia in the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s – called the missiles a threat to regional stability, an attempt to alter the military balance, and a sign of a growing arms race in the Balkans.
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Manufactured by China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC), the supersonic CM-400AKG has a range of up to 248 miles (400km) and can carry either a 150kg blast warhead or a 200kg penetrator warhead.
Its first combat use came during the 2025 India-Pakistan conflict, when it was used by Pakistan.
