Serbia is close to signing a deal on the purchase of 12 French Rafale multi-purpose fighter jets, the Serbian president announced Tuesday, in what would mark a shift from its traditional military supplier Russia, reported the American news agency Associated Press (AP).

It said that Serbia has been considering the purchase of the new Rafale jets for more than two years since neighbouring Balkan rival Croatia purchased 12 used fighter jets of the same type for about 1 billion euros.

“The rapid arming by the Serbian military has been worrying some of its neighbours following the bloody breakup of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s,” reported the AP, noting that Serbia, a European Union candidate, is almost completely surrounded by NATO member countries.

“Critics of the Western arming of Serbia say the sale of sophisticated French jets could encourage Vucic to possibly intervene militarily in neighboring Kosovo, a former Serbian province that declared independence in 2008, which Serbia does not recognize,” said the AP, adding that “the populist Serb leader has made several such veiled threats in recent months.”