ISRAEL, IRAN and the BALKANS Part 7

ISRAEL’S SECURITY CONCERNS IN THE BALKANS

Adapted by Geopolitical Analysis and Monitoring from the original article written by Chris Deliso 

IDF COOPERATION WITH THE BALKANS: A VALUABLE ASSET

In addition to indirect influence via discreet intelligence cooperation, ISRAEL has taken an active and direct presence in the BALKANS through its military. The IDF and IAF have stepped up cooperation with several BALKAN states. This partnership does not only have specific technical benefits for ISRAEL, but also for the host nations.

For the IAF, a critical component for strengthening ties with the BALKANS is its ability to steadily improve its capabilities by conducting complex exercises beyond ISRAEL’S small and familiar terrain.

Since the 2010 Gaza Flotilla incident, cooperation between TURKEY and the IAF (ISRAELI Air Force) was interrupted. In view of this fact the IAF has conducted two joint exercises with the Hellenic Air Force (HAF). The first exercise, carried out in mid-October the same year, apparently included four IAF Apaches helicopters on the GREEK island of Crete. The second half of that drill was carried out the Peloponnesian peninsula in which four Black Hawks were used.

Military cooperation between ISRAEL, GREECE and CYPRUS has increased in recent years, and is continuing. In the first two months of 2013, four high-level ISRAELI delegations visited the GREEK ministry of defense, which is more than with other EU countries such as the UK or FRANCE.

IAF TRAINING ITS BULGARIAN COUNTERPARTS AND UTILIZING BULGARIAN AIRSPACE FOR MILITARY EXERCISES

Elsewhere in the region similar IAF training exercises are taking place, for example in the central ROMANIAN Carpathian Mountains, in 2011 the IAF carried out two exercises with GREECE and one with ROMANIA. Further, following Netanyahu’s visit to Sofia, the BULGARIAN cabinet approved a bilateral military cooperation agreement. The agreement in question included, among other things, the IAF training its BULGARIAN counterparts and utilizing BULGARIAN airspace for military exercises.

At the same time, the IAF maintains cooperation with smaller BALKAN countries like MACEDONIA, where airspace is basically as limited as it is in ISRAEL. Currently an ISRAELI firm and the IAF are involved in helicopter pilot training activity for professionalizing the MACEDONIAN military, police and firefighters.

Interestingly, despite Muslim perceptions of an ISRAELI ‘Serb favoritism,’ one senior ranking military official in Belgrade does not see significant results from actual joint efforts, despite last summer’s bilateral military cooperation agreement. Military cooperation between ISRAEL and SERBIA mostly focuses on counter-terrorism units and signal equipment. ISRAEL does not have a defense attaché in Belgrade; instead the attaché from Rome is responsible for SERBIA.