During 2021, Serbian relations with Arab states has witnessed a flurry of activity, including visits by high-ranking officials and trade missions. This surge follows a period of troubled relations during the 1990s, with the breakup of the Yugoslav Republic. At the time, some Arab countries supported the Muslims of Bosnia during the Bosnian-Serbian war 1992 – 1995, and some recognized Kosovo’s independence from Serbia in 2008. This begs the question, why is Serbia interested now in improving its relations with the Arab region?
The scope of relations
Serbian efforts have increased in 2021 to improve both political and economic relations with states in the Arab region, along the following lines:
Official Visits: High ranking officials from Serbia have visited Arab countries during the past year. These included the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who visited the UAE in March, as well as Bahrain at the end of April, the first ever of a Serbian president to that country. The Serbian foreign minister paid a visit to Morocco, as did the head of the Serbian parliament, who visited Rabat in June at the head of a parliamentary delegation, with the aim of strengthening ties between the two countries on the executive and legislative levels. In August, the Serbian foreign minister conducted a tour of the region with visits to Lebanon, Egypt, and Jordan, the first-ever official visit by a Serbian foreign minister to Jordan.
Signing Memoranda of Understanding and Agreements: Serbia signed in March a memorandum of understanding with Bahrain concerning political consultations between their respective foreign ministries. In May, an MOU was signed regarding consultations between the Serbian foreign ministry and the Moroccan ministry of foreign affairs, African cooperation, and the affairs of Moroccans abroad. A joint program of cooperation covering cultural and educational affairs, research and development, media and telecommunications was also established that will span the period between 2021 – 2024.
Organizing Joint Conferences: A large number of Serbian delegations from both the public and private sectors have visited Egypt, the UAE, and Morocco, with the aim of increasing trade, encouraging tourism, and investment in the fields of construction, aviation and agriculture. Serbia and Egypt have agreed to hold the first round of the joint committee on cooperation between the two countries by the end of this year in Cairo, to be attended by businessmen from both countries.
Serbia’s Objectives
The Serbian government has adopted a pragmatic approach in its efforts to improve relations with Arab countries, setting aside points of contention in order to achieve a number of specific objectives, including:
New Markets for Serbian Products: Serbia is seeking to increase the amount of trade with Arab states. It is eager to open new markets for its products, especially agricultural produce which would be welcome in Arab Gulf states and could enhance food security in the Arab region.
Agriculture is considered a vital sector for the Serbian economy, contributing 11.9% of overall GDP and employing over 21% of the work force as of 2016. Agriculture and food products account for 19.4% of all exports from Serbia, including cereals, fruit and vegetable products, sunflowers, soya, refined sugar, wheat flour, and sweets.
It is worth noting that Al Zahera (A UAE-based agriculture investment company) has acquired a large Serbian agricultural company along with and all its subsidiaries, in a deal worth 150 million Euros. Other UAE companies have also bought and reclaimed thousands of hectares of agricultural land in Serbia.
The Search for New Investors: Serbia is working on attracting foreign investments to key economic sectors in its economy, especially renewable energy, which accounts for 20% of all electricity consumption in Serbia. Serbia hopes renewable energy will account for 40% of all the electricity it produces by the year 2040 and is therefore seeking foreign investment in wind and solar power.
It is worth noting that, between 2010 and 2019, the UAE was the 4th largest investor in Serbia, coming after the EU, Russia, and China. The total amount of investment from the UAE totals USD 4 billion, and is focused in the real estate, renewable energy, agriculture, financial services, airlines, tourism, port management, and information technology sectors.
Exporting COVID-19 Vaccines: Serbia has achieved relative success with vaccinations against COVID-19, as it has successfully vaccinated 40% of its population, and has produced over 5.754 million doses. This success was the result of Serbia’s policy of diversifying its sources for the vaccines, as it has acquired vaccines from Russia, China, the USA, and the UK.
After Serbia succeeded in inoculating over 40% of its population of seven million, it began to offer the vaccine to to tens of thousands of the citizens of neighbouring countries, such as Croatia, Northern Macedonia, Albania, Austria, and others, who travelled to Serbia to receive the vaccine. Serbia also has donated vaccine doses to Northern Macedonia, Bosnia Herzegovina, and some countries in Africa, such as Zambia and Mozambique. During a recent visit by the Serbian foreign minister to Lebanon, over 20,000 doses of the Russian vaccine Sputnik were delivered, the first half of a total of 40,000 doses that Serbia will donate to Lebanon.
Enhancing Serbia’s international standing
Serbia is scheduled to host the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) next October. Despite seeking membership in the EU, Serbia is actively diversifying its international relations, enhancing cooperation with various countries. The October conference will commemorate the 60th anniversary of the NAM’s establishment in 1961. The recent tour of the Arab region by the Serbian foreign minister was an opportunity to invite the leaders of Lebanon, Egypt, and Jordan to attend the conference.
The hosting of this conference is an affirmation of Serbia’s strategic role in establishing the NAM, as the movement was created through the joint efforts of Egypt’s President Gamal Abdel Nasser, Yugoslavia’s President Tito, and the Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
Affirming Serbia’s territorial integrity: Although some Arab countries have recognized Kosovo’s independence from Serbia, the latter has sought to argue for the importance of its sovereignty and territorial integrity during visits by its officials to the Arab region. In this context, the Serbian and Moroccan foreign ministers affirmed in their meeting in Rabat last May, the principles of sovereignty and non-interference in the internal affairs of other states.
Serbia’s foreign ministry lauded the efforts being undertaken by Morocco to reach a permanent settlement of the Western Sahara issue and its plan for self-rule there. On his part, the Moroccan foreign minister reaffirmed his country’s stance in refusing to recognize Serbia’s independence, and its support for the unity and integrity of the Serbian Republic.
Promoting arms exports: The defence industry is one of the most important export sectors in Serbia. Reuters revealed in a report published in July 2018, that Serbia leads the Balkan states in exports of weapons, ammunition, and military hardware. In 2016, the sales of these goods stood at 406.6 million euros. In this context, Serbia has been striving to increasing its arms exports to Arab countries and strengthening its military ties with them. Last May, Serbia signed an agreement with Morocco to cooperate in the field of defence with the stated aim of exchanging expertise and knowledge as well as strengthening bilateral military ties.
Nebojša Stefanović, Serbia’s vice prime minister and minister of defence, during a visit to Egypt last July, witnessed the signing of a military cooperation protocol between Egypt and Serbia. Serbia is expected to participate in the upcoming EDEX 2021, to be held in Cairo next December. It is worth mentioning that Serbia has concluded several arms deals with some Arab states and that there is ongoing cooperation between them in the fields of training, exchange of information, and electronic defence.
Thus it can be argued that Serbia’s cooperation with Arab countries provides it with important opportunities to enhance its international standing as well as develop its economy, and is therefore likely to continue in the foreseeable future.