Military Cooperation Between Serbia and Russia – Situation and Perspectives

Vuković Nebojša (Haučni saradnik, Institut za međunarodnu politiku i privredu, Beograd), nebojsa@diplomacy.bg.ac.rs

The paper describes and analyses the military cooperation between the Republic of Serbia and the Russian Federation during the last fifteen years, practically since the re-independence of Serbia, i.e., since 2006. Special attention is paid to agreements on military cooperation as well as the effects of their implementation. In addition, the paper explains the modalities of military cooperation between states, the factors that support or hinder it, and the reasons why states conclude agreements in this area. Based on these theoretical-typical patterns, the paper analyses the process of Russian-Serbian military cooperation and its scope. The author lists specific modalities of military cooperation between Serbia and the Russian Federation, looks at its geostrategic framework, and discusses its existing/potential geopolitical effects. A prediction of its realisation/fate in the future was also provided in the context of the war in Ukraine and the tightening of relations between the West and Russia. When writing the paper, several scientific methods were used, the most common of which were analysis and comparison.

Keywords: military cooperation, military-technical cooperation, Serbia, Russian Federation, geopolitics