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Panel discussion: cooperation of China with Visegrad group and Western Balkans countries

Panel discussion: cooperation of China with Visegrad group and Western Balkans countries

February 27, 2019 05:00 pm | February 27, 2019 07:00 pm

Faculty of Political Sciences
Belgrade, Serbia

Fakultet političkih nauka, Jove Ilića, Belgrade, Serbia

The Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence is organising panel discussion “Cooperation of China with the countries of the Western Balkans and Visegrad Group”. Panel discussion will be organised on February 27, starting at 5 pm at the Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Belgrade, Jove Ilića st. 165.

The panel discussion is organised within 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 the state that is on the “new Silk Road”. Serbia is covered by China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and in recent years we are witnessing a constant inflow of Chinese capital into Serbia, investments in infrastructure, meetings of officials of the two countries at the highest levels, as well as growing cultural exchanges.

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 purpose of the panel discussion is to present the preliminary findings of a comparative analysis of this impact, which, on one hand, is accepted as welcome and the benefits that come with it are considered to be fully utilised, while on the other hand, skepticism over the real nature of these investments persists.

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