Serbia has announced it will not join NATO.

According to TASS on February 13, speaking on Serbian Radio and Television, President Aleksandar Vučić said that Belgrade maintains relations with NATO, but intends to remain neutral and will not join the North Atlantic Alliance.

Mr. Vučić said: "Regarding NATO, we have a good relationship, but we will not join NATO; we will maintain a neutral stance."

The Serbian president added: "We must leave Serbia in peace; let others fight. We have suffered too many wars in the past."

Earlier, on March 7, the Serbian president announced that Belgrade would hold joint military exercises with NATO countries in May, but would not forget the alliance's aggression against Yugoslavia in 1999.

Meanwhile,Data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) shows that, while military spending across the Western Balkans has increased, Serbia remains the region's leading importer of weapons systems.

Serbia ranks 37th in the world for arms imports, surpassing several EU member states in the region such as Croatia and Bulgaria. "The increase in defense spending is most evident and sustained in Serbia," SIPRI researcher Katarina Djokic told DW. "Over the past decade, there has been pressure to replace weapons inherited from the Yugoslav People's Army, while political leaders have also recognized the political and symbolic value of those investments."

In addition to importing the largest number of key weapons systems, Serbia also has the largest defense budget in the region.

Between 2020 and 2024, Serbia's actual defense spending was approximately six times higher than that of Albania, the second-largest defense spender in the Western Balkans.

Recently, President Vucic announced that Serbia plans to double its military capabilities within the next 18 months.

Military analyst Aleksandar Radic told DW that this is not a new trend. He said the increased rearmament began around 2016, when President Vucic realized the political and economic potential of arms purchases.

According to SIPRI data, Serbia has imported major weapons systems from 13 different countries over the past five years. China is the largest supplier, primarily due to the procurement of medium-range air defense systems. The largest military aid comes from Russia and Belarus.