I honestly don't understand why Serbia decided to buy 12 Rafale military planes from France when Serbia is not allowed to use those planes against NATO members!

And as far as I know geography, all of Serbia's neighbors, except for Bosnia and Herzegovina, are members of the NATO alliance. While one of the largest NATO bases is located in Kosovo! I do not believe that this elementary fact is not known to the people of Serbia (president, prime minister, defense minister, military commanders...). We do not see a single possible situation in which Serbia could use those military planes paid for by itself. I have the impression that, for some other, political and not military reasons, 2.7 billion euros were wasted.

Unlike Serbia, France's motives are more than clear - it did a great job, so it is completely understandable that Macron can talk about a

'historical event' - he managed to sell something that the buver will never be able to use! So, I don't see any 'Serbian courage' in that sale, but it seems to me that a lot of money was wasted.

However, this sale of military aircraft to Serbia by France is just one more undoubted proof that the leading countries of the EU, France and Germany, above all, only care about their interests in the Western Balkans. And if I'm in power in Serbia enables them to realize these interests, then nothing matters anymore: neither the authoritarian regime of A Vucic, nor irregular electoral processes (absence of voter list, impossibility of controlling the electoral process in all its segments, media blockade of opposition parties..., neither the fact that Serbia openly sits on several (political) chairs, that Serbia demonstratively refuses to participate in the implementation of EU policies in relation to Russia, nor its open denial of fundamental European values ?? (environmental protection, green agenda....), all these activities of Serbian politics are tolerated by the most important EU countries, because it is precisely these Serbian activities that enable individual EU members to realize their partial interests without major problems, which are certainly not in the function of a quick and fair solution to all those unresolved problems that exist in the region/Western Balkans.

Such an attitude towards the current political situation in the Western Balkans, which, by the way, is far from ideal, causes some other countries in the region, to say the least, an unpleasant feeling! Such policies of some EU members are not credible, so we should not be surprised by the strengthening of populist, anti-European movements in this region.

*Croatian Ambassador to Albania. This opinion was expressed following a question by AND.