Feliks the eagle is back home in Serbia after a kidnap ordeal in the Middle East

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Feliks' journey resembles a Hollywood movie script, with kidnappers, smugglers and clandestine border crossings.

The year-old eastern imperial eagle from Serbia, started flying in August and later set off on his first migratory flight toward the Middle East, only to be captured by poachers, sold illegally and retrieved in a daring cross-border mission.

While Feliks returned home safely last week, his ordeal highlighted both the widespread practice of profit-driven, illegal animal trade and an unfaltering struggle by animal protection groups to counter it.

“It’s getting worse year after year, season after season, day after day,” said Michel Sawan, the head of the Lebanese Association for Migratory Birds, who played a key role in Feliks's rescue. "We can actually barely believe ... the mission was done successfully."

The eastern imperial eagle is an imposing bird of prey with a wingspan of up to 2 meters (6 feet). The protected species in Serbia was down to a single breeding pair back in 2017 but has recovered thanks to the tireless work of the Bird Protection and Study Society of Serbia, or BPSSS.

The precious offspring of a new generation of eagles, Feliks was ringed and got a “small backpack” with a transmitter before setting off last August, Uros Stojiljkovic from the BPSSS said.

“Everything seemed normal,” Stojiljkovic added. “We didn't dream all this would happen."

Feliks first circled close to home before heading southeast across North Macedonia, Greece and Turkey. His tracking signal was lost in late October in Syria.

“We hoped this was because there was a problem with the transmitter or something,” Stojiljkovic said.

Weeks passed by before the news came from Sawan: Feliks was put up for sale after he was captured by poachers who catch migratory birds by placing water in the desert, or shoot at them, capture them with nets or even chase them with motorcycles.

“When Felix was caught at first, it was posted on many WhatsApp groups for selling wild birds illegally trapped in Syria,” Sawan said. “I started my phone calls with people I know in Syria and we were able to reach out for Feliks.”

Paying money to smugglers was out of the question but Sawan wasn't ready to give up.

Feliks was sold to a buyer in Lebanon and resold back into Syria before Sawan managed to retrieve him through a network of associates. Getting Feliks over the border into Lebanon was then impeded by fighting in the region and bad weather, he said.

Eventually, a group of refugees carried Feliks in a potato sack over the Nahr al-Kabir river on the northern border between Syria and Lebanon. “It was crazy,” Sawan said.

Now safely in Sawan's bird sanctuary in Beirut, Feliks still needed to get back home, a task that became virtually impossible after the start of the war in Iran in February.

After three failed attempts, the Serbian army came to the rescue through its troops serving in a U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon. Finally, on June 22, Feliks arrived back in Serbia aboard a military transport plane.

Feliks is now in a zoo in northern Serbia where he must be quarantined for 21 days. Experts from the BPSSS say the eagle will get a new transmitter before he is released again.

Over the past decade, the BPSSS has worked hard to plant trees and set up bird platforms across the flat agricultural plain of northern Serbia. Back in 2017, volunteers organized a 24-hour watch of the remaining nesting pair to make sure they were safe. A European Union-backed project later helped beef up the population to the current 29 breeding couples.

Dangers are still many, from accidental poisoning to electrical cables, Stojiljkovic said.

“Feliks went full circle and came back to where he had set off,” Stojiljkovic said. “Let's hope he won't be bored here.”

Feliks, an Eastern imperial eagle which flew from Serbia across North Macedonia, Greece, Turkey and Syria, where he fell victim to traffickers looks out from a cage at Palic Zoo after returning in Serbia, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

A worker inside the cage at Palic Zoo looks among trees for Feliks, an Eastern imperial eagle which flew from Serbia across North Macedonia, Greece, Turkey and Syria, where he fell victim to traffickers after returning in Serbia, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Feliks, an Eastern imperial eagle which flew from Serbia across North Macedonia, Greece, Turkey and Syria, where he fell victim to traffickers, looks out from a cage at Palic Zoo after returning in Serbia, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Feliks, an Eastern imperial eagle which flew from Serbia across North Macedonia, Greece, Turkey and Syria, where he fell victim to traffickers looks out from a cage at Palic Zoo after returning in Serbia, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

LONDON (AP) — Self-flying fighter jets, uncrewed submarines and drones will be at the center of Britain’s future military under a defense plan being announced Tuesday that reflects a world of conflicts transformed by technology.

The Defense Investment Plan has been repeatedly delayed as military leaders and Treasury officials wrangled over the cost of equipping the U.K. military for an increasingly dangerous world. Like other NATO countries, the U.K. is under pressure to increase defense spending to counter a more aggressive Russia and less reliable United States.

John Healey resigned as defense secretary on June 11, accusing the government of being unwilling to spend enough on the military at a time of “rising threats.”

Healey argued that U.K. defense spending must reach 3% of GDP by 2030, citing a British intelligence assessment that Russia could attack a NATO member country by then. He said that the plan put forward by the Treasury would see spending rise to just 2.68% in 2030, after hitting 2.6% next year.

The government says the spending plan has been “refocused” in the past few weeks under Healey’s successor, Defense Secretary Dan Jarvis. That includes a bit more money than the 13.5 billion pounds ($18 billion) Healey was offered, but likely far less than the 28 billion pounds ($37 billion) that defense officials called for.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the plan will ensure “our servicemen and women have the cutting-edge capabilities they need to deter evolving threats and keep the British people safe.” The full document is due to be published later Tuesday.

The plan is a road map for how the U.K. will increase military spending to NATO’s target of 3.5% of GDP by 2035. The U.K. military is seeking to reverse years of decline in the face of an increasingly assertive Russia, which invaded its neighbor Ukraine in 2022 and increasingly tests the defenses of European nations with overt and covert activity.

The U.K. has watched how drones have transformed war in Ukraine, which uses 200,000 of them a month to defend against Russian forces. Britain plans to invest billions in drone systems across all branches of the military. Instead of a planned fleet of new destroyers, the Royal Navy will get hybrid vessels that will act as command hubs for drones.

Britain and other NATO member nations have faced pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to increase military spending. Trump has long questioned the value of the military alliance and complained that the United States provides security to European countries that don’t pull their weight.

The resignations of Healey and junior Defense Minister Al Carns were among a series of blows that prompted Starmer to announce last week that he will resign. He is likely to attend a NATO summit in Turkey on July 7 and 8 in one of his last acts as prime minister.

His successor, likely the former Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, will be under pressure to stick to the commitments in the defense plan.

Opposition Conservative Party defense spokesperson James Cartlidge said the plan was “too little, too late.”

“The plan is now almost a year overdue and only being rushed through because Keir Starmer is desperate for a legacy,” he said.

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomes NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to 10 Downing Street in London, Monday, June 29, 2026.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, Pool)

Britain's Secretary of State for Defence Dan Jarvis arrives for a cabinet meeting hosted by Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Downing Street in London, Tuesday, June 23, 2026.(AP Photo/Alastair Grant)