By Miroslav Jovanović
Lecturer in International Economics at the University of Geneva and a full-fledged member of Matica Srpska
France presents itself in Serbia as a friend of the state and the people. It truly was so to some extent, but the times of Raymond Poincaré, Georges Clemenceau and François Mitterrand have long since passed.
The new wave of authorities in Paris is more oriented toward globalism and less toward France itself. Regardless of the fine words of French statesmen about friendship, the French ambassador in Pristina, Olivier Guérot, stated in July last year that “the friendly governments of Kosovo, including the French government, need partners in order to move forward and support Kosovo on its path towards European integration” and that “France has been, is, and will continue to stand by Kosovo”. A word to the wise is enough regarding the (alleged) strategic alliance between Serbia and France.
Because of all this, it is not at all clear why the authorities are excessively tying Serbia to France. What benefit does Serbia gain from such a policy? An example is the purchase of Rafale military aircraft without any public debate about such an excessively expensive move. I will mention only a few facts related to this arrangement.
Excessively expensive compared to the competition
Rafales are extremely expensive aircraft compared to their competitors. That probe on the nose of the aircraft is intended for in-flight refuelling. Where are our flying tankers? Will those also be purchased? These aircraft will not be flying to Warsaw or Cairo, so why would they need refuelling in the air? Rafales are also of limited use for Serbia itself, because they are effectively unable to fly over the entire territory of this already “truncated” Serbia. As soon as they enter afterburner, they immediately leave the country’s airspace. Not to mention super afterburner. Why would they need in-flight refuelling?
The price of the equipment does not include only the aircraft themselves, but everything that goes with them on the ground: spare parts, communication systems, guidance, weapons and so on. Because of all this, the decision is harmful. And where will pilots for these aircraft be found? Just to qualify for training on Rafales, each pilot must have at least 300 hours of flight on a jet aircraft.
This is therefore the wrong decision. Rafales are fourth-generation aircraft, while production of sixth-generation aircraft is now beginning. They are not bad aircraft, but there are many better ones. On 7 May 2025, Pakistan, using its Chinese aircraft of the J-10C type, shot down Indian Rafales in short air combat like flies, even though the Rafales cost at least four times more per aircraft than the Chinese planes mentioned, which cost around 50 million dollars each. And it is a big question whether they are four times better. The issue is not Indian pilots, but the aircraft they fly. Indian pilots occasionally conduct combat exercises with American pilots as well. In such exercises they have demonstrated that they are world class and that they are better than the Americans. The Indians flew Sukhois, while the Americans flew Phantoms.
These aircraft are unnecessary because airspace and a small territory are best defended by an enormous number of anti-aircraft missiles. Missiles are needed, many missiles, such as the American Patriot, Russian missiles from the S-400 series, Buk or Pantsir, or Chinese FK-3 or HQ-22 systems. Helicopters and drones are needed.
Nevertheless, Serbia has ordered 12 Rafales. If it is necessary to have a few jet aircraft because of “pirates in the air”, then only a handful of aircraft would be sufficient. Even refurbished Orlovi and Galebovi, or other aircraft far cheaper than Rafales, could serve such exceptional and very rare purposes.
A disastrous purchase
This purchase is also disastrous. Aircraft are bought, used and overhauled for 30 to 40 years. This represents the infiltration of France into the Serbian Armed Forces for the next 40 years. It is also a way of bringing Serbia into NATO against the clear and majority opposition of the population of Serbia.
What kind of contract is this? Can these aircraft be resold to someone else? That is always done with the consent of the seller. We assume that because of everything mentioned above there was no public debate about spending such enormous public funds.
Has this purchase been sufficiently thought through? We would like to believe that there is no ill intent involved, but I am of the opinion that matters are not entirely clean and that there is the possibility of a mixture of incompetence, irresponsibility, corruption and blackmail. Is something else, hidden, being bought through such an unfavourable deal, and not only these extremely expensive aircraft? It all resembles a strangely directed film story, deserving perhaps an award for its plot, such as the Golden Palm or something similar.
If everything mentioned is taken into account, Serbia could have fared much better, as in the case of the future metro in Belgrade. And if, in addition to all this, the possible construction of a nuclear power plant in Serbia is also involved, France again appears on the list. Although French technology is top-class and extremely expensive, France cannot, and will not be able to, guarantee the supply of fuel because it imports it itself.
Having been driven out of almost the whole of Africa, except Djibouti, due to neo-colonial behaviour, France no longer has access to mines there. Of the 60 nuclear power plants currently being built around the world, two thirds are being built by the Russian company Rosatom. That company uses and exports top-class nuclear technology (in certain cooperation with the French company Framatome) and has every capability to supply customers both with nuclear power plants and with the fuel required for them. Despite 20 packages of severe sanctions against Russia, both the EU and the United States continue to freely purchase nuclear fuel from Russia.
Serbia needs electrical energy, and those needs will continue to grow. Instead of building a huge fairground complex, for the same price of around 17 billion euros Serbia could build almost two nuclear power plants, from whose existence and operation everyone in Serbia would benefit in the long term.
(Radar, 10.03.2026)
https://radar.nova.rs/ekonomija/francuska-ljubav-nas-skupo-kosta/