Serbia anticipates fighter jet deal with France during Macron's visit

President Aleksandar Vucic told AFP on Wednesday that Serbia expects to sign a "huge" deal for French fighter jets during a visit this week from France's leader, an agreement estimated to be worth billions of dollars.

Vucic made the comments ahead of President Emmanuel Macron's two-day visit to Serbia that kicks off on Thursday, with the duo expected to sign a range of bilateral deals during the trip.

The Serbian president did not specify the number of French Rafale jets that would be purchased or the final cost of the contract if the agreement is signed.

"It's a huge contract for this country, and it's not a small contract even for France," said Vucic during an exclusive interview with AFP, describing what is anticipated to be a multi-billion dollar agreement.

In the past, Serbia's ministry of defence has said the country was looking to buy 12 planes from Paris to replace its ageing fleet of fighter jets.

Last year, Vucic hinted Belgrade was ready to spend an estimated three billion euros for the possible purchase of the French warplanes.

"Most of our aircrafts, or all of our aircrafts, all of our interceptors and all of our fighting jets were coming from Russia, and now we need to change ourselves, our habits and everything else in order to prepare our military," Vucic added.

If signed, the deal would be the latest in a string of arms deals inked with Europe, China and Russia made possible by a surge in spending by Belgrade in the past decade.