MILITARY EXERCISES
In 2023, the participation of the Serbian Armed Forces in international exercises, either bilateral or multilateral, was shaped by the Serbian Government’s decision from late February 2022 to abort all activities related to planning, preparing and conducting the exercises with foreign partners. This decision was made in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, in 2023, the Serbian Government exempted “the Platinum Wolf 2023”, a military exercise co-organised by the United States European Command and Serbian Armed Forces and hosted by Serbia, from the 2022 decision, making it the only international military exercise in which Serbian Armed Forces participated in 2023.
DONATIONS
In 2023, Serbia signed four international agreements on donations, one with China and three with the US. It has not been specified whether these agreements have been implemented, but the data on their monetary value were disclosed in the response by the Serbian MoD. A major change compared to the previous years, when the US dominated as the military donor, is that this year’s donation from China exceeds all the US donations aggregate. In March 2023, Serbia and China signed an agreement on free military aid to Serbia valued at 50 million Chinese yuan or EUR 6.700.000. No other data on this donation were available, including its exact content of equipment and when the donation was implemented.
Within the Global Initiative for Peace Operations Fund, the US signed an agreement to donate USD 155.832 to the Serbian military to cover the warehousing and transportation expenses for assembly facilities. A protocol was signed for the US to donate military tents, “Shelter Base X307 16×35”, worth USD 75.232 to the Serbian Armed Forces. The US also signed an agreement to donate IT equipment worth USD 21.742,88 to the Serbian military.
TOP FOREIGN DONORS 2023
China
EUR 6.7 million
United States of America
USD 252.806,88
