Latest news with #SVR
Canada News.Net
19 hours ago
- Politics
- Canada News.Net
Vucic Halts Ammunition Exports, Says Supplies Will Go To Serbian Army
Serbia is halting all ammunition exports following a decision by President Aleksandar Vucic as the Balkan country faces challenges over exports to Israel and Moscow's suspicions that ammunition made in Serbia has made its way to Ukraine. We've halted literally everything, and we are supplying our army, Vucic said on June 23 after reporters asked whether Serbia had chosen a side in the Israeli-Iranian conflict by exporting ammunition to Israel. Vucictold reportersafter attending a meeting with the Armed Forces Chief of General Staff that Serbia's arms exports to Israel following the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas was one thing, and that today we have a different situation. Several hours after Vucic's comments, the Serbian Ministry of Defense said that any future exports of arms manufactured in Serbia would require the consent of the country's National Security Council and permission from other relevant authorities. Serbia also has faced pressure from Moscow, which recently criticized Serbia's position on arms exports. Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) accused Serbia of exporting arms to Ukraine via third countries. Ammunition produced at Serbian defense enterprises, primarily for heavy long-range systems, is sent to NATO countries in the interests of Ukraine in the form of complete sets of parts for assembly, the SVR claimed in astatementon June 23. This allows Kyiv to formally receive military products that are no longer Serbian, but assembled at weapons factories in Western countries. SEE ALSO: Western Balkan Countries Reaffirm Support For Ukraine At Summit In Tirana Serbia's Ministry of Defense didn't respond to RFE/RL's requests to confirm or deny the SVR's allegations, which have not been addressed by Vucic or other Serbian officials. According to the SVR, Serbia's ammunition exports to Ukraine have strained ties between Belgrade and Moscow. It is regrettable that now these traditions of friendship and mutual assistance are crossed out by the thirst for profit and cowardly multi-vectorism, the SVR said in the statement. It claimed that the assembly and loading of ammunition produced in Serbia is carried out primarily in the Czech Republic and Bulgaria. Neither the Czech nor the Bulgarian foreign ministry was available to comment on the Russian allegations following inquiries by RFE/RL. The Bulgarian military company EMCO Ltd., designated by the Russian SVR as one of the companies to which Serbia delivers ammunition for further shipment to Ukraine, strongly denied these allegations in comments to RFE/RL, calling them unfounded. We declare that this is not true. EMCO has not exported any material for the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine for about 10 years, the company said. For more than three years, Vucic has endured pressure from both Brussels and Washington to impose sanctions on Russia after its unprecedented full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In May he made his first visit to Moscow since its invasion of Ukraine and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, raising concern in Brussels. Moscow, Russia--Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, May 9 2025 The European Commission on May 8advisedVucic to refrain from giving legitimacy to Putin's aggression against Ukraine. Vucic earlier this month received praise for Serbia's support from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Odesa, wherethe two meton the margins of the Ukraine-South East Europe Summit. Serbia's official stance is that it fully respects Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty. However, it has not joined Western sanctions against Moscow despite being a candidate country for the EU membership. Media reports on Serbia's ammunition exports to Ukraine, which Vucic and other top Serbian officials have denied, have been mounting over the years. In June 2024, the Financial Times reported that Serbias ammunition exports arriving in Ukraine via third parties totaled around 800 million euros since 2022. Commenting on these estimates at the time, Vucic said that export was a part of [Serbia's] economic revival and important for us. "Yes, we do export our ammunition," he said in an interview with theFinancial Times. "We cannot export to Ukraine or to Russia but we have had many contracts with Americans, Spaniards, Czechs, others. What they do with that in the end is their job." Precise data on what weapons and military equipment and in what quantities Serbia exports to Ukraine, Israel, and other countries is not publicly available, as in recent years the relevant ministry has not published annual reports on issued export permits on its website.
American Military News
2 days ago
- Politics
- American Military News
Vucic halts ammunition exports, says supplies will go to Serbian army
This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission. Serbia is halting all ammunition exports following a decision by President Aleksandar Vucic as the Balkan country faces challenges over exports to Israel and Moscow's suspicions that ammunition made in Serbia has made its way to Ukraine. 'We've halted literally everything, and we are supplying our army,' Vucic said on June 23 after reporters asked whether Serbia had chosen a side in the Israeli-Iranian conflict by exporting ammunition to Israel. Vucic told reporters after attending a meeting with the Armed Forces Chief of General Staff that Serbia's arms exports to Israel following the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas was 'one thing,' and that today 'we have a different situation.' Several hours after Vucic's comments, the Serbian Ministry of Defense said that any future exports of arms manufactured in Serbia would require the consent of the country's National Security Council and permission from other relevant authorities. Serbia also has faced pressure from Moscow, which recently criticized Serbia's position on arms exports. Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) accused Serbia of exporting arms to Ukraine via third countries. 'Ammunition produced at Serbian defense enterprises, primarily for heavy long-range systems, is sent to NATO countries in the interests of Ukraine in the form of complete sets of parts for assembly,' the SVR claimed in a statement on June 23. 'This allows Kyiv to formally receive military products that are no longer Serbian but assembled at weapons factories in Western countries.' Serbia's Ministry of Defense didn't respond to RFE/RL's requests to confirm or deny the SVR's allegations, which have not been addressed by Vucic or other Serbian officials. According to the SVR, Serbia's ammunition exports to Ukraine have strained ties between Belgrade and Moscow. 'It is regrettable that now these traditions of friendship and mutual assistance are crossed out by the thirst for profit and cowardly multi-vectorism,' the SVR said in the statement. It claimed that the assembly and loading of ammunition produced in Serbia 'is carried out primarily in the Czech Republic and Bulgaria.' Neither the Czech nor the Bulgarian foreign ministry was available to comment on the Russian allegations following inquiries by RFE/RL. The Bulgarian military company EMCO Ltd., designated by the Russian SVR as one of the companies to which Serbia delivers ammunition for further shipment to Ukraine, strongly denied these allegations in comments to RFE/RL, calling them 'unfounded.' 'We declare that this is not true. EMCO has not exported any material for the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine for about 10 years,' the company said. For more than three years, Vucic has endured pressure from both Brussels and Washington to impose sanctions on Russia after its unprecedented full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In May he made his first visit to Moscow since its invasion of Ukraine and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, raising concern in Brussels. The European Commission on May 8 advised Vucic to 'refrain from giving legitimacy to Putin's aggression against Ukraine.' Vucic earlier this month received praise for Serbia's support from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Odesa, where the two met on the margins of the Ukraine-South East Europe Summit. Serbia's official stance is that it 'fully respects' Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty. However, it has not joined Western sanctions against Moscow despite being a candidate country for the EU membership. Media reports on Serbia's ammunition exports to Ukraine, which Vucic and other top Serbian officials have denied, have been mounting over the years. In June 2024, the Financial Times reported that Serbia's ammunition exports arriving in Ukraine via third parties totaled around 800 million euros since 2022. Commenting on these estimates at the time, Vucic said that export was 'a part of [Serbia's] economic revival and important for us.' 'Yes, we do export our ammunition,' he said in an interview with the Financial Times. 'We cannot export to Ukraine or to Russia … but we have had many contracts with Americans, Spaniards, Czechs, others. What they do with that in the end is their job.' Precise data on what weapons and military equipment and in what quantities Serbia exports to Ukraine, Israel, and other countries is not publicly available, as in recent years the relevant ministry has not published annual reports on issued export permits on its website.
UAE Moments
4 days ago
- Politics
- UAE Moments
Serbia Halts Arms Sales to Israel After its Attacks on Iran
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said at a press conference in Belgrade on Monday, June 24, that it had stopped exporting arms to Israel after the latter started attacking Iran. After Israel launched its attack, Operation Rising Lion, on Iran on June 13, Serbia stopped exporting arms to the country, which it had continued since October 7, 2023. The Serbian president explained that his country exported ammunition to Israel, not weapons, and 24,000 people made their living from these exports. Serbia exported 42.3 million euros of arms and ammunition to Israel in 2024, according to a BIRN investigation. Iran's Tasnim news agency reported that the country's leadership warned that any country providing Israel with military equipment of any kind would be 'deemed complicit in the act of aggression against Iran and turn into a legitimate target'. Serbia also exports arms and ammunition to Ukraine, which has become a problem with Russia because their Foreign Intelligence Service, the SVR, said, "It seems that the desire of Serbian arms manufacturers and their patrons to profit from the blood of fraternal Slavic peoples has made them completely forget who their true friends are and who their enemies are.'
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Russia's spy agency says Serbia sold ammunition to Ukraine via Bulgaria, Czech Republic
BELGRADE (Reuters) -Russia accused Serbia on Monday of selling artillery ammunition to Ukraine through intermediaries in Eastern Europe, making the second such allegation in a month against its traditional Balkan ally. In a statement posted on its website, the Russian foreign intelligence agency, the SVR, said two Serbian companies sold rockets for multiple rocket launchers and mortar shells, or components for them, through two firms in the Czech Republic and Bulgaria. Both Bulgaria and the Czech Republic belong to NATO and the European Union, and supply weapons and ammunition to Ukraine. "The manufacturers in Serbia are well aware of the real consumers of their products and ... that their rockets and shells will kill Russian soldiers and residents of Russian settlements," the SVR said. There was no immediate comment from Serbian officials. But populist President Aleksandar Vucic, speaking before the SVR statement was published, said following a meeting with top army generals in Belgrade on Monday that the country had halted all arms sales. "We have halted literally everything, and we are now sending (ammunition) to our own army," Vucic told reporters. Serbia maintains a balancing act between its historical ties with Russia and the West. Belgrade has condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but has so far refused to join Western sanctions against Moscow. Serbia also recognizes Ukraine's territorial integrity, including territories held by Russia. Serbia wants to join the EU, but Russia remains its biggest gas supplier, and the country's sole oil refinery is majority-owned by Gazprom and Gazprom Neft. In May, Vucic said Belgrade and Moscow will investigate how Serbia-made ammunition reached Ukraine, after SVR made similar accusations which soured relations between the two countries. Speaking in Moscow on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, said he expects Belgrade will "take measures" to rein in such arms sales. "The topic certainly requires special attention, given the sensitivity of this issue for us and for Serbia," Peskov told Russia's Life TV.
Russia Today
5 days ago
- Politics
- Russia Today
Moscow accuses Belgrade of betraying friendship
Ukraine's military continues to receive weapons from Serbia, Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) has stated in a press release published on Monday, in which it accused Belgrade of betraying its historic friendship with Moscow. Officially, Serbia has avoided backing Kiev in the conflict and asserted its neutrality. Despite this, Serbian defense firms have been increasing their supply of ammunition to Ukraine, according to the SVR. The agency asserts that this has been made possible through indirect export schemes designed to obscure the weapons' true destination. The SVR said that Serbian-made munitions are being exported as kits to NATO countries, where they are assembled before being transferred to Ukraine. The components are reportedly shipped primarily to the Czech Republic and Bulgaria, allowing Kiev to formally receive fully built weapons from NATO soil rather than directly from Serbia. According to the Russian intelligence agency, Serbian arms producers are fully aware that their products are ultimately destined for the Ukrainian military and that their munitions 'will kill Russian servicemen and civilians.' 'It is regrettable that now these traditions of friendship and mutual assistance are being erased by the thirst for profit and cowardly multi-vectorism,' the SVR concluded. Following the report, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced on Monday that Belgrade has suspended the export of ammunition and that special permissions will now be required for such shipments. 'We have now stopped literally everything and are sending it to our army,' he said. The accusation follows a similar claim made by the SVR in late May, in which it alleged that Serbian companies had secretly shipped 100,000 rockets and one million small arms rounds to Ukraine. The weapons were allegedly rerouted through various states, using falsified end-user certificates. Vucic responded at the time by denying the existence of any direct contracts with Kiev, and emphasized that Serbian law prohibits the supply of weapons to countries at war. He insisted that any such arms that do reach Ukraine must have done so via third countries, and pledged to clamp down on attempts to circumvent export controls. Moscow has consistently criticized foreign military aid to Ukraine, stating that it only prolongs the conflict and leads to more bloodshed without affecting the final outcome.
