The document signed by the ministers of defence of Serbia and Hungary on 1 April in Belgrade is a “standard defence cooperation plan”, but it does not represent a “military alliance”, the interlocutors of EWB say. In addition, the highest-level signing ceremony, attended by President Aleksandar Vučić, is interpreted as the response by the official Belgrade to the joint declaration of cooperation on defence, signed by Albania, Croatia and Kosovo on 18 March in Tirana.
Days before the signing ceremony took place, a vast majority of the pro-government tabloids in Serbia stated that “Serbia and Hungary are going to forge a mighty military alliance which would shake up the region”, adding that it would be “a historical decision by Vučić and the Hungarian Prime Minister (Viktor) Orbán”.
On the other side, the Ministry of Defence of Serbia stated that after a meeting held with the President of Serbia in attendance, ministers Bratislav Gašić and Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky signed a document on “operationalising and concretising the Agreement on Strategic Defence Cooperation”.
