About 600 troops from Serbia, Italy, Romania and Türkiye began a two-week joint military exercise with NATO on May 12 near Bujanovac in southern Serbia, running through May 23. The drill, called NATO-Serbia, is organised by Serbia’s Land Forces Command together with NATO’s Joint Force Command in Naples and includes military planners and observers from Britain, Italy, Germany, Romania, the United States, Turkey, France and Montenegro. Officials from Serbia’s Ministry of Defence described the training as aimed at preserving peace and stability and as a continuation of cooperation under NATO’s Partnership for Peace while respecting Serbia’s declared military neutrality. NATO called the activity a tactical field exercise and said it was being held in full respect of Serbia’s stated policy of military neutrality.

Serbia and NATO launched their first ever joint military exercise on May 12 at the Jug base and Borovac training ground near Bujanovac, a two-week tactical drill scheduled to finish on May 23. The exercise, titled NATO-Serbia, involves roughly 600 personnel drawn from the Serbian army and three NATO members, with additional planners and observers from several allied capitals attending the training ground.

What the exercise will do

The Serbian defence ministry listed the kinds of activities that units will practise, including base security, checkpoint operations, crowd control and urban combat. Those tasks are associated with peace support operations, and the Serbian ministry framed the exercise as aimed at preserving peace and stability in the region, conducted on an equal basis while respecting Belgrade's declared military neutrality.

NATO described the activity as a tactical field exercise under the Partnership for Peace umbrella. A NATO official said the exercises were being conducted "in full respect of Serbia's stated policy of military neutrality." NATO’s Joint Force Command in Naples is co-organising the event alongside Serbia’s Land Forces Command.

Photographs released by the Serbian defence ministry showed Serbian and NATO soldiers standing side by side with armoured vehicles at the Borovac training ground outside Bujanovac. The official Serbian statements also identified Colonel Branislav Stevanovic, deputy commander of the Third Brigade of the Serbian Army, as the exercise lead on the Serbian side.

Why timing and partners matter

The timing of the exercise touches on long-running sensitivities in the Western Balkans. NATO’s 1999 air campaign against Yugoslavia remains politically sensitive in Serbia, and a NATO-led peacekeeping force has been deployed in Kosovo since 1999.

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Belgrade hasn't recognized Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence, a point that shapes public and official attitudes toward cooperation with the Alliance.

At the same time, Serbia has expanded its military capabilities over the past decade through arms purchases from both NATO member states and from Russia and China. That mix of defence relationships has helped shape Belgrade’s approach of engaging with NATO through the Partnership for Peace programme while maintaining a formal posture of neutrality. Serbia first joined Partnership for Peace in 2006, and both NATO and Serbian statements emphasised that the joint drill is an operational training event rather than a step toward alliance membership.

Participants were named across sources. The core contingent comes from Serbia, Italy, Romania and Türkiye, and military planners and observers are attending from Britain, Italy, Germany, Romania, the United States, Turkey, France and Montenegro. Those delegations, NATO officials and Serbian military planners will work through tactics, techniques and procedures intended for peace support operations during the two-week schedule.

Not all details are corroborated across outlets. A NATO news release quoted Royal Navy Commander Ian Kewley offering an appraisal of the planning teams, but that quote appears only in one source.

Separately, one report said Serbia had imposed a moratorium on foreign exercises after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, with a few exceptions, naming the Platinum Wolf exercise in 2023 and 2025 and a 10-day special forces exercise in Hebei, China in July 2025. Those items are single-sourced in the material provided to editors.

Serbia’s Ministry of Defence and NATO both stressed that the drills are practical, operational training rather than political signalling. The Serbian ministry said the exercise represents a continuation of cooperation within Partnership for Peace, and that activities are being conducted on an equal basis with respect for Serbia's neutrality. NATO reiterated that the exercise respects Serbia’s policy and falls under the Partnership for Peace framework.

Organisers say the two weeks are focused on consolidating routine procedures for peace support operations. Units will move through scenarios designed to test coordination at checkpoints, protection of bases, management of civilian crowds and urban manoeuvres. The aim, by official account, is to build common procedures and practical interoperability for operations that stabilise conflict-affected areas.

For Serbia, the exercise is a way of maintaining ties to NATO structures without altering its formal course on neutrality. For NATO, it's an opportunity to sustain practical engagement with a partner in a sensitive neighbourhood. Observers from several Alliance members are attending in order to monitor and learn from the drills, and the presence of armoured vehicles and mixed contingents underlined the organisers' stated focus on training rather than a political pivot.

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The NATO-Serbia exercise runs through May 23, when participating units are scheduled to complete field scenarios testing checkpoint security, base protection and urban manoeuvres.

This article was created with AI assistance.