NIKINCI, Serbia (AP) — Camouflage-clad
Russian soldiers parachute from the sky, armored vehicles fire live rounds on
an open field after being dropped from military transport jets and helicopters
fire missiles against enemy positions.
Although the flat
terrain resembles the Ukrainian war zones, this is not an armed Russian
intervention against its neighbor. It's the first-ever joint Serb-Russian
military exercise in Serbia, the Balkan country that has been performing a
delicate balancing act in between its Slavic ally Russia and Western Europe,
with which Belgrade wants to integrate.
The
"anti-terrorist' drill on Friday — the first such by the Russians outside
the former Soviet Union — of elite Russian troops in northern Serbia, not far
from NATO-member Croatia, has stirred controversy both here and abroad.
"Serbia 's
government wants to try and keep everyone happy," said prominent Balkan
political analyst Tim Judah. "So, the U.S.
helps finance and modernize Serbia 's
army while now Serbian soldiers train with Russians. In normal times there
would be little to say about this, but post-Crimea, these are not normal times
anymore."
Although Serbian
officials say they respect Ukraine 's
territorial integrity and do not support Russia 's
annexation of Crimea, they have refused to impose sanctions against Russia like the EU and the U.S. have. Russia and Serbia
have traditionally close historic and cultural ties, and Moscow
has backed Belgrade 's
bid to maintain its claim over Kosovo — a former Serbian province that declared
independence in 2008 with the support of Washington and its allies.
The show of Russian
military might in a country seeking to join the European Union comes as Russia , blamed by the West for fomenting the Ukraine crisis,
tries to increase the Kremlin's presence in the Balkans.
"During our
short stay in Serbia ,
we established the basis for expanding of our military relations," said
Russian Gen. Vladimir Shamatov.
Russian President
Vladimir Putin was in Belgrade
last month where he received a hero's welcome that included a Soviet-style
military parade. The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill,
arrived in Belgrade
on Friday.
"Serbia says it supports the territorial
integrity of Ukraine , yet it
welcomes Putin with a military parade and its soldiers are training with the
army that annexed Crimea and is fighting in Ukraine ,"
Judah
said. "As the (Ukrainian) war goes on this is an increasingly untenable
position and Serbia 's
government will just annoy both Russia
and its Western friends rather than being on good terms with all."
Serbian Defense
Minister Bratislav Gasic said he believes Serbian "neutrality" is
tenable and defended holding the drill with the Russians.
"There are no
secrets about this exercise," he said after the drills that included a
mock live-ammunition attack against a terrorist base with armored vehicles and
about 200 troops, some deployed by Ilyushin IL-76 transport aircraft.
"We are
militarily neutral and we would like to maintain good relations with everyone,
including Russia , the
European Union, the United States
and China ," Gasic said,
adding that Serbia — which
has never been part of any Russian or Western military alliance — will also
hold military drills with the Americans next month in Serbia .
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