French Rafale warplanes deal part of EU ‘carrot/stick method to get Serbia to move away from Russia’

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Issued on: 30/08/2024 – 14:39Modified: 30/08/2024 – 14:44

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Thursday announced a $3 billion deal to buy 12 French warplanes, in a move that shifts his country away from its dependence on Russian arms. The announcement about the Rafale multi-purpose fighter jets was made during a joint news conference in Belgrade with French President Emmanuel Macron during a two-day visit to Serbia as part of what French officials have called a strategy of bringing Serbia closer to the European Union. Macron called the deal “historic and important,” and said it demonstrated Serbia’s “strategic courage.” “The European Union needs a strong and democratic Serbia at its side and Serbia needs a strong, sovereign Europe to defend its interests,” Macron said. ″Serbia’s place is in the EU, and it has a role to play to be an example for all the region.” Serbia is formally seeking European Union membership, but under Vucic’s increasingly autocratic rule it has made little progress in the fields of rule of law and democratic reforms, which are the main preconditions for membership in the 27-nation bloc. As Serbia makes a multi-billion dollar arms deal with France, in a shift away from Russia, FRANCE 24 is joined by Dr. Helena Ivanov, Associate Research Fellow at the Henry Jackson Society.

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Source link : https://www.france24.com/en/video/20240830-french-rafale-warplanes-deal-part-of-eu-carrot-stick-method-to-get-serbia-to-move-away-from-russia

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Publish date : 2024-08-30 07:00:00

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