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    Sue Mi Terry “Now is not the time to lift sanctions, either. Now, in fact, is the time to double down. If Biden wants to prevent North Korea from acting out, he needs to first provide the government with new incentives to talk-and that means new restrictions Washington can use as carrots. Biden, in other words, needs to take North Korean policy off autopilot and launch a proactive effort to deter Pyongyang. Otherwise, he risks encouraging an already emboldened Kim to stage a major provocation.” 4 hours ago
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China influence in Western Balkans

Page with all the IPSEs stored in the archive related to the Context China influence in Western Balkans.
The IPSEs are presented in chronological order based on when the IPSEs have been pronounced.

Vuk Vuksanović
Vuk Vuksanović

“This visit [Xi Jinping in Belgrade] shows that Serbia has exchanged Russia for China went it comes to its main partner to bargain with the West. The full-scale invasion of Ukraine placed the Serbo-Russian relationship under close monitoring, so the government sees a benefit in playing the Chinese card more often now since it's deemed to be less provocative. The Balkans, and Serbia in particular, have become even more interesting for China now that one branch of the Belt and Road Initiative through Russia and Belarus was effectively cut off with the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.”

author
Researcher at Belgrade Centre for Security Policy
08 May 2024 6 6
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Vesko Garcevic
Vesko Garcevic

“The EU's waning soft power will slow down the democratisation process in the region and open space for other countries to walk in. There's no such a thing as a limbo in international relations … in the last… particularly five years let's say, China has been filling in the space which is neglected by Brussels. Moscow sees this as an opportunity and will increase its support to groups and politicians like Dodik [Milorad Dodik] in Bosnia or [Serbian President Aleksandar] Vucic in Belgrade or will do its best to keep the situation in Kosovo frozen.”

author
Professor at Boston University
11 Oct 2021 11 8
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Jasmin Mujanovic
Jasmin Mujanovic

“What's really alarming is that there is still no Plan B. The situation is… already deteriorating, we're already having to deal with new kinds of security, instability threats and still, the EU is not articulating any kind of post-enlargement vision for the region. Russia is very involved in Bosnia. It's explicitly said it opposes Bosnia's membership in NATO, that it considers it a threat to Russia's security interests, which is of course preposterous. But it tells you the extent to which Russia has now elevated this region in its foreign policy thinking.”

author
Political Scientist
11 Oct 2021 7 9
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Andrej Plenković
Andrej Plenković

“I really think this is a huge event for Croatia, Croatian people, for our friends in Bosnia and Herzegovina, for Croatians in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We connected what we call modern sovereignty, a very clear project with which we are realising strategic interests, realised at the moment when we strengthened our international position and enriched it with the membership in the European Union. The bridge [Peljesac Bridge] does not connect only Croatia, but it connects the EU as well as Bosnia-Herzegovina.”

author
Croatian Prime Minister
29 Jul 2021 4 5
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Helena Legarda
Helena Legarda

“China is the newcomer in the region. Its footprint is quite shallow - but it is rapidly expanding. For Chinese leadership, the Western hegemony is an anomaly. It wants to dominate the 21st century in the same way as West did in 20th. It needs to reduce and replace the influence of US and the EU – with this in mind, the Black Sea and Balkans region is an attractive region for China, a fertile ground. A lot of countries are dissatisfied with the EU, they feel abandoned and patronized by the EU, China can fill this void. As the region tries to balance between West and China economically and stay in the Western sphere of influence, there will have to be political concessions. This situation is not sustainable.”

author
Senior Analyst at the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Berlin
28 Jul 2021 7 4
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Alessandro Minuto-Rizzo
Alessandro Minuto-Rizzo

“I don't think that today we should consider that China represents a serious security challenge for the Balkans. At this moment, we see an increased interest in the area, an economic presence and investments in infrastructures (as in the case of Montenegro). Countries in the region need to be careful in non-compromising strategic interests, in making arrangements that are reasonable and that they can pay back. In general terms China is a competitor, in some cases, it may be a partner. It is a process and a relationship to be followed carefully and with due attention.”

author
President of the NATO Defense College Foundation and former Deputy Secretary General and acting Secretary General of NATO
26 Jul 2021 2 3
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Stefan Vladisavljev
Stefan Vladisavljev

“It's a textbook example of a soft-power move. While China is still trailing countries like Russia [in the Balkans], this can bring a lot of people closer to Beijing. The idea is to make China more accessible and more familiar and leave an imprint on society as well. Serbia is a poster child of cooperation in the region and one of the countries that Beijing points to when it wants to show what a successful relationship can look like. We are at the beginning of this cooperation [growing cooperation of Serbian schools with Chinese universities and schools], it's still something that is being developed. We are witnessing the inception right now.”

author
Program Coordinator of the Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence
11 May 2021 1 4
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Stefan Vladisavljev
Stefan Vladisavljev

“While some countries have limited China's presence, and thus the influence that has resulted from the assistance provided, others have eagerly accepted it. One of the countries that did accept the aid was Serbia, and by combining a global Chinese initiative and the actions of Serbian officials, a narrative was created in which China was presented as 'the only partner that can help Serbia in the fight against COVID-19'.”

author
Program Coordinator of the Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence
09 Apr 2021 3 3
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Milo Dukanovic
Milo Dukanovic

“The friendship between our two countries is constantly improving. Our cooperation has been further strengthened in many areas through the 17+1 mechanism [China-Central and Eastern Europe (CEEC) Summit (17+1)] which recently incorporated the fight against COVID-19 and other pandemic viruses. Although we are the smallest of the countries participating in the Mechanism, we have extremely large development potentials that we want to valorise in cooperation with credible Chinese partners. Therefore, Montenegro will support the proposed list of activities for cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European countries in 2021. A few days ago, I had the opportunity to address Chinese companies interested in cooperation with Montenegro. Attentively heeding their interests, it became clear that there is a desire to continue cooperation on the construction of the highway through Montenegro to the port of Bar, as well as the development of logistics and industrial zones in its vicinity. Such a project would give a strong impetus to a faster economic recovery in the post-pandemic era and better connect Montenegro with neighbouring and overseas countries.”

author
President of Montenegro
09 Feb 2021 3 4
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Vladimir Shopov
Vladimir Shopov

“There are many clear signs – in sustained increases of Chinese engagement in the field of academia, in the media, even in some civil society activities and it is clearly beginning to happen. It is going beyond the politics. We are seeing a multilevel strategy. In the past couple of years we have been focusing a bit too much on the big items of Chinese engagement – big investments such as highways, energy sector, infrastructure, but it is very clear now that Chinese are now much more active at a pretty granular level – engaging with individuals, with non-state institutions, etc.”

author
Visiting Fellow of the European Council on Foreign Relations
09 Nov 2020 2 3
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Gjergji Vurmo
Gjergji Vurmo

“However, I do not think that it is just about business anymore. Maybe the Balkans' importance is not solely related to providing access for China to the EU market. I strongly believe that China is out to influence and it certainly has its own priorities and strategical objectives in doing so.”

author
Director of the Institute of Democracy and Mediation in Albania and BiEPAG member
09 Nov 2020 2 1
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Zoran Nechev
Zoran Nechev

“If you analyse how Chinese project their influence in the Western Balkans, one may find a clear pattern. For the time being, it is purely economical, however, in time it has a perspective to become very political. This also raises serious concerns about the Western Balkans resilience to corruption and the willingness of political elites to ignore the rule of law. Therefore, China’s way of working is opposite from the political, but also an economic model and liberal values, that these countries from the Western Balkans strive to achieve towards on its path to NATO and EU.”

author
Member of Institute for Democracy 'Societas Civilis' Skopje and of BiEPAG
09 Nov 2020 4 2
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