Western embassies were worried about the arrival of Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov in Belgrade on Saturday for the largest military parade in recent years “The Power of Unity“ and tried to put pressure on the Serbian leadership, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said.
The military parade, coinciding with the Day of Serbian Unity, Freedom and National Flag on September 15, was held on Saturday in front of the government complex “Palace of Serbia“. Among the guests were UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Bosnia and Herzegovina President Milorad Dodik, Ohio National Guard Commander Brigadier General Matthew Woodruff, the heads of the defense ministries of China, France, Hungary, Azerbaijan, and Cyprus, as well as representatives of the diplomatic corps.
„When the media reported that special guests were coming to the parade in Serbia, and these were guests from Arab countries, we received calls from all the Western embassies in Belgrade: „Is it really true that the Russian defense minister is coming to Serbia? That would be scandalous and outrageous.“ It could not have crossed their minds that UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan could be here. Only I and two others knew about it; I did not inform anyone. And since they did not know anything, there was a fuss. Then I told my advisor Tanja Jovic to call everyone and half of them gave up their intentions to curse and threaten“, he said at a meeting of the Serbia-Republika Srpska Cooperation Council on Saturday.
According to Vucic, during his upcoming trip to the UN General Assembly in New York, difficult and unpleasant talks await him regarding Kosovo and Metohija and Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“We must take into account the disappointment and complexes that the West has at the moment because they cannot defeat the Russians on the front line and they need to find someone who can. Rest assured that it will not be the Serbian people again, as has happened so many times, because no one will shed a single tear for us. "Everyone will be very vocal in various media and megaphones, but not a single tear will be shed for us," Vucic stressed, adding that the Serbian authorities are united and helping the leadership of the Republika Srpska Bosnia and Herzegovina, although they do not agree on everything.
According to the Serbian Ministry of Defense, 10,000 soldiers, 2,500 weapons, 600 vehicles, 70 aircraft and 20 vessels on the Danube participated in the parade on Saturday. At the beginning of the parade, the troops carried the Serbian national flag, a record length of 300 meters, and an artillery salute was fired.
Among the equipment displayed were MiG-29, Orao, C-295 CASA aircraft and Mi-35M and H145 helicopters. Also on display were FK-3 and HQ-17 air defense systems, modern GM-400 radars, Milos, MRAP, Lazar 3, Hummers and BOV OT armored vehicles, modernized M-84 AC1/2/3 tanks, modernized M80 AB1/2 infantry fighting vehicles, 155-mm Nora self-propelled howitzers, modernized PASARS air defense systems, unmanned aerial vehicles and reconnaissance and attack drones of Serbian and foreign production.
Elbit Hermes 900 tactical unmanned aerial vehicles, purchased from Israel, and the PULS multi-caliber MLRS from the same manufacturer were shown for the first time. Also, before the end of the parade, two Rafale fighter jets of the French Air Force, accompanied by two Serbian MiG-29s, flew over the gathered crowd for the first time, recalling the contract signed in 2024 for the delivery of 12 French fighters.
In recent years, the Serbian army has been equipped with new air defense systems, such as the Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft missile system and the Repellent electronic warfare system from Russia, as well as the Chinese-made FK-3 anti-aircraft missile system, the delivery of which to Serbia began in 2022.
In 2023, 11 Mi-35P helicopters were purchased from Cyprus, along with Spanish CASA C-295 transport aircraft, H145 helicopters and 22 radar stations from France. Vucic previously said his country wants the Russian S-400 system, but cannot afford it at the moment.