Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic accused Turkey on Wednesday of, by arming Kosovo, violating the United Nations (UN) Charter and UN Security Council resolutions.
Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti announced on Wednesday that Turkey, ahead of schedule, delivered to Pristina Skydagger kamikaze drones, also known as RTF Skydagger FPV.
“These are combat drones equipped with explosive devices intended to strike moving and static enemy targets. By purchasing this contingent of unmanned aerial vehicles, in addition to Bayraktar TB2 and Puma drones, we continue to increase the striking power of our army with the aim of building a capable and coherent force with new technological achievements and modern tactics of warfare,” Kurti posted on his Facebook page.
Vucic promptly reacted to the news from Pristina on the X platform with a message that he is “appalled by Turkey’s gesture” and the persistent arming of Pristina.
“I am appalled by Turkey’s behavior and the brutal violation of the UN Charter and UN Security Council Resolution 1244, as well as the continuous arming of the authorities in Pristina,” Vucic stated.
He reproached Ankara for not caring about the region’s security.
“Now it is completely clear that Turkey does not want stability in the Western Balkans and that it again dreams of restoring the Ottoman Empire. Serbia is a small country, but we understand their true intentions,” Vucic wrote on X.
The government’s Office for Kosovo and Metohija also reacted, whose director, Petar Petkovic, repeated Vucic’s assessment that Serbia “understood the message” and that it is “not accidental” that the drones were delivered to Kosovo three months before the contracted deadline.
Petkovic believes Turkey did this “just a few days before local elections” to give the prime minister in Pristina the “necessary support before the October 12th elections so that he can continue to terrorize the Serbian people.”
Petkovic said that Belgrade will “continue to responsibly preserve peace and stability, despite the military alliances being formed to the detriment of peace and representing a direct threat.”
Earlier, in 2020, Serbia intended to buy Bayraktar TB2 drones from Turkey, which in tabloids close to Vucic were presented as “currently one of the most powerful combat unmanned aerial vehicle systems in the world,” and whose acquisition would make Serbia “by far the most powerful military force in the former Yugoslavia.”
Vucic later abandoned the plan to arm Serbia with Turkish drones, and according to the specialized portal Oruzjeonline, at the end of June 2023, he explained this by saying that Turkey was arming Kosovar security forces with those aircraft.
“We refused to buy the Bayraktar because they delivered it to Pristina. Recently, we received the Chinese CH-91 drone, and we continue to buy it. After five months, we will also receive a thousand kamikaze drones that we requested from the Middle East,” Vucic said.
Serbian media reported that during preparations for the military parade on September 20th, Shadow drones produced by the EDGE corporation from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were seen on Serbian Army launchers.
