Late August 2024, Serbia and France finally signed a bilateral agreement on Rafale multirole fighter jets, after two years of negotiations. Twelve fighters, nine single-seat and three double-seat, will be supplied to the Serbian Air Force to replace the aging MiG-29, at a total cost of EUR 2.7 billion, the delivery scheduled for 2028–2029.
Soon after the contract was finalized, a number of Serbian mass media published reports claiming that among the provisions of this agreement was a paragraph saying that a portion of the expenses (~€400 mln) will be compensated through a transfer of those replaced MiG-29s. Upon handover, France would donate these Soviet fighters to Ukraine.
Read more: Serbia's Been Struggling to Buy Rafale Instead of MiG-29 for Two Years Now to No Progress
At this point already, the assertion sounded suspicious as Serbia is very discreet about providing any military support to Ukraine and officially has never done so. It became all the more unreasonable when the number of MiG-29s potentially slated for Ukraine under these covert agreements was declared: as many as 36 jets.
The website of the Serbian Ministry of Defense openly says there are only 14 MiG-29 aircraft in service; the same figure appears in independent assessments of Serbia's arsenal. Four of these MiG-29s were inherited from Yugoslavia, and ten were acquired from other countries — six from russia and four from belarus.
Responding to these allegations, the Serbian defense department issued a statement refuting the rumors, noting that the contract on 12 Rafale fighters has no stipulations about an alleged transfer of MiG-29s to France with subsequent delivery to Ukraine.
"Serbia will by no means give its MiG-29 jets and they will still be usable for a certain number of years," said Bratislav Gašić, Minister of Defense of Serbia, adding that the government will "never give [MiG-29s] to anyone."
Backtracking the whole story about a secret deal with France indicates a possible russian role in creating this narrative. On August 30th, that is, the day when the contract between Belgrade and Paris was signed, a Telegram channel named Octagon assumed there was an alleged clause about this two-way aircraft exchange in favor of Ukraine.
Soon, this very message was reposted by Elena Panina, Director of the russian-based Institute of International Political and Economic Strategies (RUSSTRAT) and former russian MP.
For a reminder, by opting for the French Rafale, Serbia backstabbed russia, refusing to buy additional MiG-29 fighters. Moreover, in 2023, Serbia also ordered the C295 tactical transport aircraft instead of the russian An-26.
Read more: Combat Use of AGM-158 JASSM: What Ukraine Can Expect If Received
