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Region & Diaspora Serbia Opens Huawei Tech Center Days after Pledging to Ban ‘Untrusted Vendors’

China’s Huawei has opened its Innovations and Development Center in Belgrade on Monday.

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The center was opened in the presence of Prime Minister Ana Brnabic and the Chinese ambassador to Belgrade. President Aleksandar Vucic, who signed the pledge in the Oval Office, was not present.

The center will focus on accelerating Serbia’s digital transformation, and help the economy grow.

Brnabic praised the collaboration with Huawei, and denied it violates Serbia’s pledge, made in Washington, not to buy 5G network equipment from unreliable vendors. She added that projects with Huawei will be more visible within a year in the country.

Serbia has projects worth hundreds of millions with Huawei. They include the 5G network, artificial intelligence, digitalization of education and smart cities, Brnabic said.

One of the items in pledges signed by Serbia and Kosovo was the following:

“Both parties will prohibit the use of 5G equipment supplied by untrusted vendors in their mobile communication networks. Where such equipment is already present, both parties commit to removal and other mediation efforts in a timely fashion.”

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Serbia abandoned the idea for Russian S-400 and bought Chinese FK-3 missile systems

Serbia has bought a new generation of Chinese FK-3 anti-aircraft missile systems, the state arms trading company Jugoimport SDPR JP said, learned BulgarianMilitary.com citing news agency Dnevnik.

This is the first country in Europe that will adopt this complex, which experts compare in parameters with the American “Patriot III”. The information is contained in the company’s annual report and was first noticed by the local media Balkanska bezbednosna mreza.

According to the report, these are 3 batteries from this complex, which has a range of 100 km and hits targets at an altitude of 50 to 27 thousand meters.

FK-3 is the export option of the Chinese medium-range system HQ-22, which was first shown in 2016 at the Zhuhai Air Show.

Serbia wants to acquire Chinese FK-3 anti-aircraft system to avoid ...
中国FK-3防空导弹系统是红旗-22的外贸版本

The U.S. Embassy in Belgrade issued a warning that “purchasing defense equipment is supposed to be a sovereign decision of a country, yet the Serbian government should understand the ‘short- and long-term risks and costs of doing business with Chinese companies.'”

　　”The content of Serbia’s defense procurement should be consistent with the Serbian side’s previously announced broader policy goal of EU membership,” the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade added, adding that “defense suppliers from countries other than China are well positioned to provide alternative equipment and, in terms of both quality and cost, are It can be compared to Chinese weapons.”