Serbia’s student movement has announced plans to suspend arms trade with Israel and halt the project involving an Israeli drone factory in Serbia, according to Filip Ubović, a prominent representative of the Students’ List.
Ubović, a student at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences, outlined the movement’s position during an interview on a podcast hosted by British journalist Aaron Bastani, responding to a question about how a potential new government would approach relations with Israel.
“What is happening there is a stain on humanity, and it is truly sad. Our programme states that we will stop arms trade with Israel,” Ubović said.
He also criticised President Aleksandar Vučić’s close relationship with Israel, pointing out that an Israeli drone manufacturing facility had been established in Serbia. He described the project as unacceptable and said it should be brought to an end.
Vučić reacted sharply to the statements, publishing a video on Instagram in which he claimed that the country’s defence industry was being dismantled under instructions from foreign intelligence services.
The Serbian president also criticised the student movement’s reported opposition to introducing compulsory military service lasting 75 days.
“On top of everything else, we have now heard from another one of them that they do not want cooperation with Israel, they do not want cooperation with China, and they do not want cooperation with countries that have the most powerful armies and the most advanced weapons in the world,” Vučić said.
Former Prime Minister Ana Brnabić also criticised the proposals, warning on X that more than 20,000 employees in Serbia’s defence industry could lose their jobs if the plans were implemented.
She argued that the drone factory would create new highly skilled employment opportunities for the country.
Vučić inaugurated the Israeli drone assembly factory in September. According to an earlier investigation by BIRN and Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Israeli defence company Elbit Systems holds a 51 percent stake in the facility, while Serbia’s state-owned Yugoimport SDPR owns the remaining 49 percent.
BIRN also reported that Serbian exports of ammunition and weapons to Israel increased 42-fold from 2023, reaching €114 million.
The statements come as Serbia prepares for a political transition following the electoral victory of the student-backed opposition movement. The constitutive session of the newly elected Serbian Parliament is scheduled for Tuesday, marking the beginning of the new parliamentary term.
