Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic expects to sign the long-awaited fighter jet deal with France during President Emmanuel Macron's visit to the Balkan country this week.
"It's a huge contract for Serbia and it's not a small contract even for France," Vucic said in an exclusive interview with AFP, describing what is expected to be a multibillion-dollar deal.
Vucic made the comments ahead of President Emmanuel Macron's two-day visit to Serbia, which begins on August 29.
He expects the two to sign a number of bilateral deals during the trip.
The Serbian president did not specify the number of French Rafale jets to be purchased, nor the final value of the contract if the agreement is signed.
Serbia's defense ministry recently said the country wants to buy 12 aircraft from Paris to replace its aging fleet of fighter jets.
Last year, Vucic hinted that Belgrade was ready to spend approximately three billion euros on the eventual purchase of the French fighter jets.
"Most of our planes or all our planes, all our interceptors and all the combat planes came from Russia and now we have to change ourselves, our habits and everything else to prepare our army," added Vucic.
If signed, the deal would be the latest in a series of arms deals with Europe, China and Russia made possible by Belgrade's spending spree over the past decade. | BGNES
