Serbia intends to strengthen its defense cooperation with France and is still keen to buy Rafales, the Serbian president said on Thursday, as the Balkan country seeks to reduce its dependence on Russia.

Emmanuel Macron's visit to Serbia, scheduled for April 8, will provide an opportunity to broach the subject, Aleksandar Vucic told a televised government meeting.

"One of the topics of discussion will be special-purpose industry, and the coordination of our special-purpose industries," said the president, referring to the defense sector.

Belgrade is also keen to strengthen its cooperation with Airbus through the maintenance of its H125M helicopters and the possible joint production of combat drones.

"We are going to speed up cooperation on Airbus helicopters", said Aleksandar Vucic.

In addition, "we are determined to buy new aircraft that ( ) will significantly improve our military capability".

Belgrade is in talks to buy 12 Rafale jets, built by Dassault, explained Aleksandar Vucic, who last year estimated the cost of the purchase at around 3 billion euros.

In January, Aleksandar Vucic stated that Serbia would purchase around 740 million euros worth of new military equipment by 2024, with the share of the budget devoted to defense approaching 2% of GDP.

Belgrade has already purchased H125M helicopters and troop transport aircraft from Airbus, Mistral surface-to-air missiles and radars from Thales, even though the country, a candidate for EU membership, has one of the largest armies in the Balkans.

Nevertheless, Serbia's military forces depend on equipment dating back to the Soviet Union, using MiG-29 fighters and MI-35 helicopters, as well as Russian tanks and missiles.

The country is neutral and did not impose sanctions against Russia after the invasion of Ukraine, which it condemns, but it is a member of NATO's Partnership for Peace for countries not wishing to join the alliance.

Meanwhile, Croatia, which bought 12 second-hand Rafales from France in 2021, said on Thursday through its Prime Minister, Andrej Plenkovic, that it expected to receive the first six aircraft by the end of April. (Reported by Aleksandar Vasovic, Corentin Chappron, edited by Sophie Louet)