Arms Control

The Security Policy Sector is responsible for monitoring global and regional developments in the field of arms control and the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, as well as for matters related to export controls of arms, military equipment and dual-use goods. The Republic of Serbia fully and effectively implements international restrictive measures adopted by international organisations of which it is a member. In accordance with its foreign policy goals and priorities, the Republic of Serbia closely follows international standards and practices in these areas and regularly submits reports on the fulfilment of obligations arising from the relevant international conventions ratified by the Republic of Serbia. Serbia has also aligned its legislation in the field of export controls with European Union standards.

1. Export Control

The entire area relating to the issuance of import and export licences, the provision of brokering services and technical assistance, as well as the basis for controlling the transport and transit of arms and military equipment, is regulated by the Law on the Export and Import of Arms and Military Equipment, which entered into force on 16 October 2014, while procedures related to the issuance of import and export licences, the provision of brokering services and technical assistance, and the transport and transit of dual-use goods are regulated by the Law on the Import and Export of Dual-Use Goods, which entered into force on 14 March 2025. Both laws are fully aligned with European Union standards.

The Law on International Restrictive Measures was adopted on 16 February 2016. This Law established the legal basis for the full and effective implementation of international restrictive measures adopted by international organisations of which the Republic of Serbia is a member. 

The Republic of Serbia ratified the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) on 29 October 2014. The ATT is a legally binding international instrument which, at the global level, defines the criteria, principles, parameters and new standards that States Parties should take into account when authorising transfers of conventional arms. Its objectives include making the arms trade more credible, the process itself more transparent, strengthening cooperation among states, and reducing opportunities for the illicit trade in arms to the lowest possible level.

In April 2008, the Government of the Republic of Serbia adopted a Conclusion launching the negotiation mechanism for the accession of the Republic of Serbia to international export control regimes for arms and dual-use goods. On 30 April 2013, the Republic of Serbia was admitted to membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), an international export control regime dealing with the export control of nuclear materials and dual-use goods. Negotiations on accession to the Wassenaar Arrangement (WA), an international control regime in the field of export controls of arms, military equipment and dual-use goods, were launched in 2009 and are still ongoing. In March 2017, the Republic of Serbia also submitted an application for membership of the Australia Group (AG), an informal control arrangement serving as a forum for a group of states which, through the harmonisation of export control regulations and the exchange of information, seek to prevent the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons. Following the completion of membership procedures in the aforementioned control regimes, the Republic of Serbia will also initiate the procedure for membership of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR).

As part of its regular activities, the Republic of Serbia submits information to the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms, the OSCE register relating to Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW), reports on the implementation of the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects (CCW), reports on the fulfilment of obligations under the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction (Ottawa Convention), as well as reports on the implementation of the Arms Trade Treaty.

2. Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction

With a view to safeguarding national security and ensuring compliance with the relevant resolutions of the United Nations Security Council, international conventions and agreements, the Republic of Serbia consistently implements the applicable norms in the field of the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (Weapons of Mass Destruction – WMD). In this regard, the Republic of Serbia implements the obligations arising from United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540 on preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery, adopted on 28 April 2004 as the first UN Security Council resolution to explicitly address joint efforts to counter the threat to international peace and security arising from the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery. At the proposal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the first national Strategy for Combating the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction for the period 2021-2025 was adopted on 23 July 2021, and in December of the same year the Government of the Republic of Serbia adopted a decision establishing the National Coordination Body for Combating the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction for the period 2021-2025. Following the successful implementation of the Strategy and the accompanying Action Plan (Report on the Implementation of the Action Plan for 2025), at the proposal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on 23 July 2026 the Government of the Republic of Serbia adopted the Strategic and Operational Plan for the Implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540 for the period 2026-2030, and the process of establishing a new National Coordination Body for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1540 has also been initiated. 

The Republic of Serbia is one of the 193 Member States of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The international organisation, headquartered in The Hague, is responsible for implementing the provisions of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction (Chemical Weapons Convention - CWC), with the aim of permanently eliminating this category of weapons of mass destruction worldwide. Details about the Organisation and the Convention are available at https://www.opcw.org/. The Republic of Serbia acceded to the Convention in 2000. In accordance with its obligations under the Convention, the Law on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction ("Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia", No. 36 of 15 May 2009 and No. 104 of 27 November 2013) was adopted. The Commission of the Republic of Serbia for the Implementation of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction coordinates the work of the competent authorities in implementing obligations arising from the Convention and cooperates with the OPCW bodies in The Hague. The Ambassador of the Republic of Serbia in The Hague is Serbia's Permanent Representative to the OPCW (https://www.opcw.org/about-us/member-states/serbia).

Since 2007, the Republic of Serbia has actively participated in the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism, whose primary objective is to strengthen the security of civilian nuclear facilities, enhance capabilities for detecting nuclear and other radioactive materials and substances in order to prevent their illicit trafficking, improve the ability of participating states to investigate, seize and establish a secure system of control over the unlawful possession of such materials, as well as devices intended for their use.

In 2006, the Republic of Serbia joined the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), whose objective is to create a global network for coordinating participating states in efforts to prevent trafficking in weapons of mass destruction.

The Republic of Serbia has been a State Party to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction since its inception and regularly submits annual reports on Confidence-Building Measures (CBM) concerning its implementation, as well as information related to the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1540. Furthermore, with regard to activities in the field of non-proliferation, the Republic of Serbia has signed and ratified the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the Safeguards Agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, as well as the amendments to that Convention.

3. Agreement on Sub-Regional Arms Control

As the legal successor to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, that is, Serbia and Montenegro, the Republic of Serbia made a significant contribution to the adoption and implementation of the Agreement on Sub-Regional Arms Control, thereby confirming the importance it attaches to regional cooperation in this important and sensitive area of arms control. The Agreement was signed in Florence on 14 June 1996, pursuant to Article IV of Annex 1-B of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, also known as the Dayton-Paris Peace Agreement. The Agreement established limits for each of the Parties, namely numerical limits on five categories of armaments subject to the Agreement – battle tanks, artillery pieces (with a calibre greater than 75 mm), armoured combat vehicles, combat aircraft and attack helicopters. It also defined mechanisms and procedures for reducing the number of armaments subject to limitation to the agreed levels, with the aim of establishing and maintaining a military balance in the region. The Agreement does not, however, address issues relating to the quality or modernisation of armaments, thereby leaving all Parties free, within the prescribed limits and agreed procedures, to take measures they consider necessary for the modernisation of their armed forces. The obligations and rights arising from the Agreement are legally binding. As a result of a responsible and consistent approach to its implementation, as well as the high level of overall capacity achieved for its independent implementation, in 2010 the Parties, with the support of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for Article IV and the Contact Group countries, formally launched the process of transferring ownership to the Parties, which was formally completed by the signing of an amendment on 18 December 2014.

4. Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW)

The Republic of Serbia is a State Party to the most important international instruments in the field of combating the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons, including the UN Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition, as well as the UN Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons. Along with 56 other UN Member States, the Republic of Serbia was one of the co-sponsors of UN Security Council Resolution 2220 on small arms and light weapons, adopted on 22 May 2015.

The Republic of Serbia supported the joint initiative of France and Germany, launched in 2017, which resulted in the adoption of the "Roadmap for a Sustainable Solution to the Illegal Possession, Misuse and Trafficking of Small Arms and Light Weapons and Their Ammunition in the Western Balkans by 2024" at the Western Balkans Summit held in London in July 2018.

Following the successful implementation of the second national Small Arms and Light Weapons Control Strategy for the period 2019-2024 and the adoption of the revised regional Roadmap for the Western Balkans 2025-2030, at its session held on 26 December 2025, the Government of the Republic of Serbia adopted a new national strategic document in the form of the Programme for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons, Ammunition and Explosives for the period 2025-2030, accompanied by an Action Plan for the period 2025-2027, pursuant to the obligations defined by the Law on the Planning System of the Republic of Serbia and with the aim of aligning it with the new Roadmap for the Western Balkans through 2030.

List of Conventions and International Treaties in the Field of Arms Control Ratified by the Republic of Serbia:

  •  Arms Trade Treaty (ATT)

  • Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare / Geneva Protocol of 1925 (the Law on the Withdrawal of the Reservation to the Protocol was adopted in May 2009);

  • Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT);

  • Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction (BTWC);

  • Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction (CWC);

  • Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM);

  • International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism;

  • Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT);

  • Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident;

  • Convention on Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency;

  • Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects – so-called inhumane weapons (CCW);

  • Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction (Ottawa Convention)

  • 2001 Regional Plan – Stability Pact;

  • UN Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (UN PoA SALW);

  • UN Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UN FP);

  • Convention for the Reciprocal Recognition of Proof Marks on Small Arms and Regulations - Permanent International Commission for the Proof of Small Arms (C.I.P)

  • Hague Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation (HCoC);

  • Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) (in February 2004, Serbia and Montenegro unilaterally undertook to comply with the MTCR document "Equipment, Software and Technology" of 30 May 2003 and the "Guidelines for Sensitive Missile-Relevant Transfers" of 7 January 1993);

  • Agreement on Sub-Regional Arms Control / Florence Agreement 1996;

  • Vienna Document on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures (CSBM);

  • OSCE Document on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW), as well as other relevant OSCE decisions in this field – on the stockpiling of conventional ammunition; on Man-Portable Air Defence Systems (MANPADS); on End User Certificates; on brokering; and other related matters.

Overview of Countries Subject to UN Security Council Sanctions