On Sunday, June 7, 12 activists were arrested during a protest against plans to open an Elbit Systems drone factory in Serbia. The protest launched near the Skyline AFI Tower in Belgrade, associated with Israeli conglomerate Africa Israel Investments (AFI Group), with participants marching under banners reading “We don’t want death factories, Elbit Systems out” and “NATO fascists not welcome here.”
Most activists were arrested while trying to protect a fellow protester from arrest, which police claimed was due to an attack against them. The 12 were taken to two different police stations and released during the night.
Read more: Serbia expected to launch drone production with Elbit Systems
Recently, the Serbian government signed agreements for Israeli weapons purchases worth over USD 1.5 billion, including long-range precision rockets, drones, surveillance, and intelligence systems. The country has also been identified as an important node in arms transfers to Israel, including during the genocide in Gaza. In this context, the potential physical presence of Elbit Systems adds to widespread frustration and warnings about complicity in the genocide.
“The arrival of Elbit, as well as Rio Tinto, represents a serious attack from the NATO imperialist center, an insult to the dignity of our people,” the group Podrška narodu Palestine (Support to the people of Palestine Serbia) wrote ahead of the protest. “Our tradition is anti-imperialist and antifascist, and we will always stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people and other oppressed peoples on the margins of the capitalist system.”
During the protest, organizers re-emphasized Elbit System’s major role in the Gaza genocide and its embeddedness in Europe’s ongoing armament drive. Throughout the preparation of the action, they denounced the growing militarization of transport infrastructure in Eastern Europe and warned about budget cuts that rearmament will inevitably bring to social systems. “Billions for murderers, while the people have no roof over their heads, go hungry, and die because public healthcare isn’t ‘profitable,'” Podrška narodu Palestine wrote. “Investments in the military industry bring profit only to the ruling class, while bringing nothing but death to the people.”
Read more: Amid mass protests in the West, Israel’s military footprint expands in Eastern Europe
In addition to rejecting arms industry cooperation between Serbia and Israel, protesters pointed to overlaps between occupation forces attacks on Gaza and other parts of West Asia, and the legacy of US imperialism in Eastern Europe embodied by NATO. Sunday’s protest exposed the presence of Israeli capital in Belgrade while at the same time commemorating the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, noting that Serbian authorities became increasingly intertwined with the alliance in the years that followed.
“In May this year, NATO troops and the Serbian army held a joint military exercise in southern Serbia,” Podrška narodu Palestine wrote. “The ‘Platinum Wolf’ military exercise between NATO and Serbia has been taking place since 2014. We remember the year 1999 as well as the millions of victims in Vietnam, Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Palestine, Iran, Sudan … We will never forget imperialists’ crimes!”
Ana Vračar , June 9, 2026
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