Serbian authorities are allegedly planning to launch a drone factory in partnership with Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems through the state-owned Jugoimport-SDPR. According to recent media reports, the production plan involves short- and long-range drones, not unlike those used by the Israeli occupation in the Gaza genocide.
The revelation follows reports of Serbia’s growing military exports to Israel since 2023, as well as last year’s purchases from Elbit Systems amounting to approximately €1.5 billion in agreements that regional defense portals claimed would include significant technical transfer. According to sources interviewed by BIRN, technical transfer is also a notable component of the drone production enterprise, as local engineers are expected to be directly involved in the design and production.
This will secure profit and technological progress for the Serbian part of the partnership, the sources said, while Israel will be able to continue consolidating its production lines outside West Asia. As previously warned by the Romanian Elbit Out! Campaign, as the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement continues to grow stronger and break into the mainstream in West Europe, Israeli weapons companies are looking for more predictable markets for their deadly products – possibly finding such a refuge in Eastern Europe.
Read more: Amid mass protests in the West, Israel’s military footprint expands in Eastern Europe
And while Serbia is certainly not the only nation in this region pursuing partnerships or purchasing weapons from companies directly fueling the genocide in Gaza, it appears to be among the most eager ones. During a visit to Belgrade in March 2026, UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese told media outlet Mašina that “there aren’t many countries that provide weapons used for slaughter and the pulverization of what remains of Palestine, particularly the Gaza Strip, as conspicuously [as Serbian authorities are doing].”
In the same interview, Albanese emphasized there could be serious consequences for state authorities and government officials who enabled this cooperation and trade with Israel despite proven infringement of international law.
Read more: The genocide industry: UN rapporteur exposes over 60 companies complicit in Israel’s crimes against Palestinians
Despite expectations of Eastern Europe offering a more predictable, less protest-prone landscape for controversial companies like Elbit, it remains to be seen if this will remain the case for long. Palestine solidarity groups and campaigns have recently mobilized, in different ways, against complicity in Israel’s war crimes and the presence of Israeli arms production from Romania to the Czech Republic.
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