Serbia hosts first joint military exercise with NATO

Serbia and NATO have launched their first-ever joint military exercise, a landmark cooperation between the Balkan country and the alliance that bombed its capital less than 30 years ago.

The two-week-long drills, which began on Tuesday and run until May 23, involve about 600 troops from Serbia, Italy, Romania and Turkiye. Military planners and observers from France, Germany, Italy, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Turkiye, the United Kingdom and the United States are also participating.

Photographs released on Tuesday showed Serbian and NATO soldiers standing side by side at a military training ground near Bujanovac in southern Serbia, alongside armoured vehicles from both forces.

“The cooperation is aimed at preserving peace and stability in the region,” Serbia’s Ministry of Defence said.

“The planning of this exercise has been an important part of this joint endeavour. Both NATO and the Serbian Armed Forces have a long track record of major international exercise planning, so the teams were able to collaborate and deliver in a seamless way, sharing ideas and experience,” Royal Navy Commander Ian Kewley said in the news release.

The tactical exercise falls under NATO’s Partnership for Peace programme, which Serbia has been part of for nearly 20 years. The country regularly participates in drills with NATO members, though this marks the first exercise conducted directly with the alliance.

NATO remains a sensitive subject in Serbia following the alliance’s 1999 air campaign against Yugoslavia during the Kosovo war.

A NATO-led peacekeeping force has been stationed in Kosovo since the 1999 war ended, and Serbia has never recognised its former province’s declaration of independence.

Serbia is one of the few Balkan countries not in the alliance, maintaining a policy of neutrality while balancing close ties with both NATO and Russia.

Serbia has significantly bolstered its military capabilities over the past 10 years, buying arms from NATO member countries alongside purchases from Russia and China.

A NATO official told the AFP news agency that the exercise is conducted “in full respect of Serbia’s stated policy of military neutrality”.