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Neither the organization of the flight with Serbian weapons from Nis to Bangladesh, nor the selection of the transport company, were the competence of the Republic of Serbia, the Serbian Ministry of Defense said on July 20.
The ministry’s reaction comes four days after a Ukrainian plane carrying Serbian weapons to Bangladesh crashed in northern Greece.
“We emphasize that Serbia is not competent for flight permits in foreign territories, because they are sovereign decisions of each state, to which an operator applies for a flight permit. In this case, our country has respected international law and fulfilled all international obligations, and we support the Greek authorities in carrying out a detailed investigation”, the ministry said.
She also said that the plane that crashed in Greece was transporting weapons to the Ministry of Defense of Bangladesh.
“Serbia respects all international regulations for trade and export of weapons and military equipment, therefore it will continue to produce and sell equipment of its defense industry to all authorized users.”
The Ministry has reiterated that the private company “Valir” was the owner of all the weaponry, while the plane, owned by a Ukrainian company, carried about 11.5 tons of practice mines and light mortars.
“The Serbian Ministry of Defense has informed the public about this. The airline and Bangladesh’s Ministry of Defense have already stated the same, that the weapons were purchased for their army and border guard. This is the only truth and these facts have been confirmed by all parties”, the announcement said.
The Serbian ministry has also reiterated that no weapons have been transported to Ukraine, and that since 2016 no permit has been issued for transporting any type of weapons from Serbia to Ukraine.
According to her, Serbian companies in the defense sector – which employs about 22,000 people – exported weapons worth 500 million dollars last year.
The Ukrainian plane “Antonov An-12” crashed on July 16 near Kavallas in the north of Greece.
It contained 11.5 tons of ammunition produced in Serbia, which were destined for Bangladesh.
The eight Ukrainian members who were on board died in the accident.
On July 18, Greece sent a note of protest to Serbia, on the grounds that they did not provide timely information about the weapons that were on the plane, diplomatic sources said.
The Serbian Ministry of Defense said on July 18 that it supports the Greek authorities in conducting a detailed investigation and that they will inform the public.
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