Cooperation between China, Western Balkans and the V4 countries
November 15, 2018 10:00 am | November 15, 2018 11:30 am
BFPE
Koste Glavinica, Belgrade, Serbia
Koste Glavinića, Belgrade, Serbia
The Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence is organizing a round table on “Cooperation of China with the countries of the Western Balkans and the Visegrad Group”. The round table will be organized on November 15, starting at 10 am in the premises of the Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence (Koste Glavinića 9/6).
The round table is organized in the framework of the project “Comparative analysis of the relations between the countries of the Visegrad Group and the Balkans towards the increased presence of China” conducted in cooperation with the Prague Security Studies Institute (PSSI) with the support of the Visegrad Fund.
China is present in the Balkans as never before. Serbia is at the very border with the European Union and represents a state that is on the “new Silk Road”. Serbia is covered by the China Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and in recent years we witnessed a constant inflow of Chinese capital into Serbia, investment in infrastructure, meetings of officials of the two countries at the highest levels, as well as an increasing cultural exchange.
Serbia, and additionally the Visegrad Group, is a shortcut for China to reach major European markets, and the growing interest in and investment in this region is logical, as is the increase in the impact that comes with it.
The aim of the round table is to present the preliminary findings of a comparative analysis of this impact, which, on the one hand, is accepted as welcome and it is considered that the benefits that come with it are considered to be fully exploited, while on the other, skepticism and certain issues related to the real nature of these investments.
This post is also available in SRP.