LOCAL PRESS

Vucic and Macron meeting in Paris (Tanjug)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and French President Emmanuel Macron have begun their face to face talks in the Elysee Palace. The head of the French state welcomed Vucic with military honors after which they started their meeting. This meeting between the two presidents is held at an important moment, on the eve of a new round of dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina in Brussels, and according to earlier announcement, Vucic and Macron will discuss bilateral relations, especially economic cooperation, the situation in the region, with particular reference to Brussels dialogue and European integration of Serbia. Vucic’s visit to France is of great importance to Serbia, bearing in mind that the last time a French head of state was in Belgrade 18 years ago. On the eve of his departure for Paris, Vucic said he expected much from the talks with Macron. “I think that this meeting is very important for Serbia. We had not had such communication in the previous period between several French presidents and their Serbian counterparts,” the President said.

Mustafa: No obstacles for Serbia to promote rights of Albanians in the Presevo valley (Beta)

The leader of the Democratic Party of Albanians Ragmi Mustafa said the Presevo valley in southern Serbia has been waiting for a solution to its problems since 2001 when an armed conflict with Serbian security forces ended. “There are no obstacles for Serbia to promote the rights of the Albanians in the Presevo valley and to say that it has done everything for the Albanians and the same should be done for the Serbs in northern Kosovo,” Mustafa told Beta.  “Belgrade’s policy is to keep problems under the rug like they have been for 100 years. They expect the dialogue with Kosovo to end in some way without resolving the problems of the Albanians in the Presevo valley. We don’t know Belgrade’s program for the Brussels negotiations but why shouldn’t we ask the same for the Presevo valley if it includes a division of Kosovo with that section being annexed to Serbia then,” he said.  Mustafa said he expects the joint declaration by all Albanian local council members in Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja to get support from Pristina.

Berlin, Moscow and London replacing ambassadors (Novosti)

Some of the key world powers, especially when it comes to resolving the Kosovo issue, will soon send new ambassadors to Belgrade. Berlin has already announced that Thomas Schild will be its new diplomatic representative, who will replace Axel Dittmann at the helm of the German Embassy in Belgrade. He is arriving from the German mission to the United Nations in New York. The British Ambassador Denis Keefe is also nearing the end of his term in the office, and his successor is expected to arrive in Serbia in the fall. Changes are expected at the helm of the Russian Embassy too, after Aleksandr Chepurin has been leading the embassy for the past six years. Chepurin will probably retire from the diplomatic work after leaving Belgrade, and the Kremlin could be appointing Botsan-Harchenko, an expert on Balkan affairs, as the new ambassador. Harchenko is known in the Russian diplomacy as a problem-solving expert. He was Russia’s ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2009 to August 2014, and before that, Russia’s long-standing representative in the Contact Group and, along with US and EU diplomats, a representative in the mediation trio involved in resolving the status of Kosovo and Metohija. He was also a member of the Russian delegation in the Dayton peace talks and the peace conference on Bosnia and Herzegovina in Paris. Berlin and London are also expected to appoint experienced career diplomats as new ambassadors in Serbia, bearing in mind that, in the coming period, the Kosovo issue and Serbia’s membership in the European Union will be considered the most important issues. Chinese Ambassador Li Manchang is also nearing the end of his term in the office, but the diplomatic circles believe that Beijing is unlikely to make changes at the helm of its Embassy in Belgrade at the current time. Official Beijing thinks that appointing a new ambassador would not be productive in the wake of the significant projects that China started both in Serbia and in Southeast Europe, bearing in mind that Manchang has done a great work and made a significant contribution to strengthening the ties between Belgrade and Beijing. The Australian and Indian ambassadors to Serbia, Julia Finney and Narinder Chauhan respectively, are also leaving Belgrade.

UK report: Serbia will not catch up with EU in 50 years (Blic/B92)

It could take the region of 50 or 60 years catch up with EU living standards, a report of the UK Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee has stated. The report, whose excerpts are published by Blic in an article by Natasa Latkovic, was presented ahead of the recent Western Balkans summit in London, and the daily said its essence was that the prospects of the six countries of the Western Balkans, when it comes to EU membership, are pretty glum. Less than 25 years ago, the Western Balkans was blighted by armed conflict, including some of the most extreme violence perpetuated against civilians in Europe since the Second World War, the report said, and quoted Dimitar Bechev from the University of North Carolina as saying that among the many obstacles are chronic economic stagnation, bilateral disputes and ethnic conflicts. “The Western Balkans has overcome many of the problems which bred violent conflict in the 1990s, but his is where the good news ends. It remains hampered by a set of interwoven problems -state capture, chronic economic stagnation, bilateral disputes and ethnic conflicts -which prove that the region’s progress cannot be taken for granted. These problems are exacerbated by local elites who have an interest in the status quo,” Bechev stated. The remarks about 50 or 60 years being needed to catch up with EU living standards came from an EBRD official, while the World Bank forecast puts this time range at between 40 and 200 years.

REGIONAL PRESS

Zvizdic: Summits in London Brussels and Sofia were useful for B&H (BHT1)

Chairman of B&H Council of Ministers (CoM) Denis Zvizdic addressed the press conference on Monday and talked about three international summits held recently (The China-Central and Eastern European Countries ‘16+1’ Summit in Sofia, the Western Balkans Summit in London and the EU-B&H Stabilization and Association Council (SAC) in Brussels), stressing that all of these three events were very useful for B&H in economic and political sense. Talking about summit in Sofia, Zvizdic said that B&H signed an agreement with China that created conditions for export of dairy products from B&H to Chinese market. He added that an agreement between B&H and China in area of tourism entered into force as well as visa-free regime between two countries, underlining that this should result in increased number of Chinese tourists visiting B&H. He added that it was also agreed that next meeting of Ministers of Transport of ‘16+1’ Summit countries will be held in Sarajevo. Further on, Zvizdic reminded that main topic of the Western Balkans Summit were economy, foreign policy and security. He emphasized that implementation of three EUR 275 million worth infrastructural projects nominated by B&H were approved at the Summit, adding that EUR 38 million worth grants were approved for B&H as well. Zvizdic stressed that it was concluded in London that it is necessary to end warmongering and radical rhetoric in B&H and the Western Balkans and open door for the future through cooperation of states’ institutions. Chairman of B&H CoM stated that B&H signed four declarations at the Western Balkans Summit: Declaration on War Crimes, Declaration on Missing Persons, Declaration on Regional Relations and Good-neighborly Cooperation and Statement on Fight against Corruption. “We also talked about the migrant issue. We (BiH) want to be part of single European solution. B&H will not build any walls towards its neighbors,” explained Chairman of B&H CoM. Talking about the EU-B&H SAC in Brussels, Zvizdic stressed that the participant agreed that B&H should deliver answers to the EC’s follow-up questions as soon as possible and that this country should soon adopt four important strategies. Zvizdic also said that he expects NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP) for B&H should be activated by end of 2018.

RS did not get BAM for projects at Western Balkans Summit in London (RTRS)

RTRS reminds that the RS did not get a single BAM for projects at the Western Balkans Summit in London on July 10, when four declarations on which the RS institutions gave negative stance were signed. Addressing the press conference in Sarajevo on Monday, Zvizdic (SDA) said that the summit in London and the Summit ‘16+1’ of Cooperation between Central and Eastern European (CEE) Countries and China in Sofia on July 6-7 were very successful for B&H. Asked to comment on the fact that all three projects were approved for the FB&H and none of them for the RS and if this means that the RS’ demands were ignored, Zvizdic stated that B&H was presented at the summit as a single and integrated territory and all the projects were approved for B&H as a whole. He stressed that it does not make any difference for him if the highway sections are built in Banja Luka, Trebinje, Sarajevo, Bihac or Orasje. As for the four declarations signed at the summit, Zvizdic explained that all four declarations were previously harmonized within B&H institutions, noting that remarks from other levels of authority were also accepted.

Commenting on the issue, Head of the RS Center for Research of War, War Crimes and Tracing Missing Persons Milorad Kojic commented that the joint declaration on war crimes was not approved by the RS due to disputable formulations and recognizing the verdicts related to war crimes. RS Minister of Transport and Communications Nedjo Trninic (DNS) commented that he was invited by the Chinese delegation at the summit in Sofia in order to sign two projects for the RS. “However, the delegation of B&H threatened that it will leave the summit if the RS signs its projects as part of the official protocol,” Trninic said. He assessed that the fact that the RS has not got a single BAM for its projects in London, where the Sofia-alike situation happened, is direct consequence of the attitude of the level of B&H towards the RS. Commenting on the declaration that NATO leaders have signed in Brussels recently, member of B&H parliament Joint Commission for Defense and Security Dusanka Majkic (SNSD) said that the declaration is disputable for the RS as it tends to treat B&H as it has become the NATO member state already. She stressed that the RS representatives in B&H Presidency and B&H CoM do not follow the stances of the RS institutions with regard to NATO. Majkic reminded that the resolution on military neutrality of the RS was passed in the RS Assembly, as well as that the RS is against the NATO membership and that it relies on the stance of Serbia when it comes to this issue.

Ivanic says London Summit declaration on war crimes is not detrimental to Serb national interests (EuroBlic)

In an interview to the daily, B&H Presidency member Mladen Ivanic said that the declaration on war crimes which was signed at the London Summit by members of the Berlin process, including B&H, has nothing to do with collective guilt of Serb people. Ivanic added that the fact Serbia too signed this document proves there is nothing in the declaration that would be opposite to Serb national interests. “Apart from this, the declaration is not a mandatory document. The entire story comes down to the intention of SNSD to abuse everything for the purpose of elections. They serve us false thesis and we are supposed to defend ourselves. The document is fully in line with international norms,” Ivanic said. Asked if stances about the document were harmonized with the RS institutions, Ivanic replied by saying that this is correct and added that his Cabinet was in contact with the RS Ministry of Interior with regard to declarations related to corruption and all remarks were accepted “just like we accepted remarks of the RS Center for Investigation of War (War Crimes and Search for Missing Persons) with regard to use of disputable symbols”.

Ivanic commented on the possibility for B&H to become a member of NATO and said that “for as long Serbia is military neutral, B&H cannot become a member of NATO”. Asked to state who of Serb representatives in B&H institutions has done the most when it comes to accession to NATO, Ivanic said that all documents related to NATO were signed solely by SNSD members. Ivanic reminded that the request for activation of the NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP) was signed by then B&H Presidency member Nebojsa Radmanovic (SNSD), former Chair of B&H Council of Ministers (CoM) Nikola Spiric (SNSD) visited NATO Headquarters on numerous occasions and signed various documents which read that the membership is the ultimate goal. “There is no such paper with my signature on it. All key decisions were made by SNSD and they are now trying to blame others for their mistakes,” Ivanic noted. Asked if B&H Presidency has received the proposal of a plan on international military exercises for 2019 and also asked if that plan includes the exercise on Manjaca, Ivanic replied by saying that no such plan was delivered to BiH Presidency and reminded that his stance is well known: “Use of planes and depleted uranium is absolutely not possible. I guarantee this will certainly not happen in the area of Manjaca. Ivanic was asked to state whether B&H handles the migrant crisis well and was also asked if there is any chance the EU might turn B&H into some kind of a migrant camp. Ivanic replied by saying that: “We will absolutely oppose any attempt to accommodate migrants in the territory of B&H because B&H could not endure it in political or economic context. This would cause great political instability. The migrant crisis is currently a problem, but it still has not escalated beyond being irreparable”. Ivanic added that it is of crucial importance to strengthen border control, especially towards Montenegro. Asked if there is any need for B&H Presidency to react, having in mind there were some ideas to engage B&H Armed Forces in this context, Ivanic said that B&H Armed Forces cannot be used for this purpose because it would not be in line with laws. “Those who advocate this idea do not comprehend political consequences. This would represent a significant widening of competencies of B&H Armed Forces, which would not be good for the RS in political context,” Ivanic concluded.

Coordination of Serb People in Mostar agrees on joint participation of all Serb candidates and parties at elections in FB&H (Oslobodjenje)

The Coordination of the Serb People in Mostar held a press conference on Monday and discussed problems of Serbs in the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton. SDS leader Vukota Govedarica recently welcomed an initiative of the Coordination to have all the Serb candidates in the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton and the FB&H united for the elections; in the end, Serb political parties decided to act in accordance with the Coordination demands. SNSD leader in Mostar Radislav Tubic stated that the joint lists at all levels in the FB&H are the only right solution for the Serbs, and he added that the party leadership in Banja Luka also supported the initiative. “When we are talking about the HNC Assembly, our priority is winning one mandate, or two if possible. We believe that the Serb population in the HNC is going to vote and support a single list, which is going to, we hope, result in one mandate in the Assembly,” he said. Tubic added that the main problem of Serbs in the FB&H is the fact that they are not constituent people in several cantons. “Also, we will promote real constituent position, not just one on paper. That would mean more jobs for Serbs and investment in infrastructure in parts where returnees’ settlements are. Serb population that came back to Mostar and its surroundings intend to continue to live here, and it is up to us to ensure better conditions and respect of human rights,” he said. SDS official Sonja Zarkovic said that national interest of Serbs must always be above the partisan or personal interests. She pointed out they are discontent with the fact that youth is leaving Mostar, underlining that they must be untied at the elections in order to have legitimate Serb representatives in the authority.

Marceta: Something has to change, otherwise no Serbs will live in FB&H (Srna)

Mile Marceta, a Serb delegate in the House of Peoples of the Federation of B&H parliament, warns that the Federation will be completely ethnically cleansed from Serbs if the current situation is sustained. Pointing out that returnees are in an unenviable position everywhere in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Marceta told Srna on Monday that the Serb returnees in the Federation of B&H fare the worst. “We are not represented in the institutions, we are unemployed. The mechanism for the protection of vital Serb interests has not been launched in the FB&H in these 25 years,” said Marceta. According to him, the number and position of Serbs in the FB&H is alarming. “Unfortunately, I believe there isn’t much effort from the State level to the lower levels of government. The situation has somewhat improved when it comes to Serbia and Republika Srpska but everything else has failed and it’s as if no Serbs in the FB&H exist,” asserted Marceta, recalling that numerous appeals for fixing the Serbs’ position had remained unanswered. He notes that in the first years after the 1990s war, a huge number of Serbs were interested in returning to Drvar and the neighboring places, that there was some concrete return in the field, but that opportunities to stay there were very poor. Marceta adds there was certain support for returnees but that it was insufficient. According to him, it takes incentives and jobs to make the return sustainable. “People are dying, no babies are born. The closest hospital is 120 kilometres away. Not a single kilometer of the road has been made in returnee municipalities in the past 20 years, there is no infrastructure, no jobs. That means we have nothing to look for in the FB&H. This situation threatens to turn into a total ethnic cleansing,” warns Marceta. He called on the international and local institutions to revise the return in B&H. “They should form a commission and see what the state of affairs is like, because there are almost no Serbs in the FB&H,” added Marceta. According to the data at his disposal, the number of Serbs in Drvar and the neighboring municipalities is one third or one quarter of what it was before the war. “At the last census, there were 7,000 Serbs in Drvar in comparison to the pre-war 18,000 or 20,000, but the question is how many exactly there are there today because one half of them leave the place to earn a living,” Marceta pointed out. He calls on the competent authorities to account and urges them to react, otherwise, there won’t be any Serbs left in the FB&H. “This threatens an ethnic cleansing and someday Republika Srpska will be multi-ethnic, while the FB&H will have no Serbs at all,” said Marceta.

Migrant crisis in B&H is not slowing down, authorities in Bihac claim migrant crisis is escalating (ATV)

ATV reported that the migrant crisis in B&H is not showing the tendency of slowing down, while authorities in Bihac claim that the migrant crisis is escalating. According to ATV, refugees are massively crossing to the area of the RS wanting to reach to the EU and only during the weekend, nearly 150 of them were detained in Bijeljina. At the end of June, municipal authorities in Bihac announced that they will stage protests in front of the building of the Council of Ministers (CoM) of B&H in Sarajevo, if the CoM fails to find a solution for relocation of migrants. Bihac City Assembly is expected to hold a session on Tuesday and discuss the option to stage the protest due to, as they said, failure of state authorities to deal with the migrant crisis in Bihac area. ATV noted that it seems like the CoM of BiH does not care much about the newly-emerged problems in B&H, while Chairman of B&H CoM Denis Zvizdic said that BiH will not build walls (on borders). Zvizdic stated: “We will remain human to the maximum. We will respect international standards and domestic laws, but we will also take care about the security situation (…) I expect that we will finally define certain locations in the upcoming days which will serve for establishment of migrant centers, especially in the Una Sana Canton. European institutions disagree with previous allocations coming from the FB&H government; they do not want to invest money in the centers because they find them too close to the border”.

Police in Brcko arrested 13 migrants near the road Brcko-Bijeljina on Sunday evening and interrogated them. Head of Operation-Communication Center in the Brcko District Police Halid Emkic said that the migrants were handed over to the B&H Service for Foreigners’ Affairs, adding that they also informed the Prosecutor’s Office of B&H about this situation. The reporter noted that until now, Brcko did not seem as an attractive location for migrants due to the fact that the River Sava separates the city from Croatian border, adding that this did not prevent nearly 70 migrants to come to the territory of Brcko as of the beginning of 2018. Head of field office of B&H Service for Foreigners’ Affairs Jovan Stojicic stated that nearly all of the migrants, including six minors, did not have any documents. Stojicic said that the migrant probably came from the area of Bijeljina after entering B&H in Zvornik, Raca. Stojicic stressed that all of the 13 migrants expressed the intention for getting asylum in B&H and added that they informed the migrants to report themselves in the Delijas asylum center in Sarajevo.

Hahn: EU door is open, decision depends on you (MIA)

The door of the EU remains wide open for Macedonia and it’s up to you to seize the opportunity. It is up to you to decide on the future of your country, EU Enlargement Negotiations Commissioner Johannes Hahn said Tuesday in Skopje who officially launched the preparatory process for opening EU accession negations. The door of the EU is wide open thanks to the urgent reform priorities that the government has been working on over the past year, but also on agreements on good-neighborly relations treaty with Bulgarian and name agreement with Greece, Hahn said. “The people showed resistance and endurance, you became an example in the region and a model how others to resolve bilateral problems,” Hahn said at the joint press conference with PM Zoran Zaev. The agreement with Greece, he added, is a contribution for prosperity, peace and stability not only in Macedonia, but in the whole region. “It is up to you to decide on the future of your country, in a free and sovereign way. The citizens should make the final decisions, to exercise their democratic right and to vote in the upcoming referendum,” Hahn noted. He congratulates on recent invitation by NATO, underlining that it will mean more security and prosperity for the citizens of Macedonia. The government at its today’s session, which was also attended by Hahn, adopted decision with which it launches the screening process towards opening EU accession negations. The government appointed Deputy PM for European Integration Bujar Osmani as chief negotiator, while Prime Minister’s advisor Bojan Maricic as technical negotiator. “Today, with EU Commissioner Hahn we defined the next steps towards screening and preparatory work for the EU accession negotiations. We have established common dynamics of negotiations by setting up negotiation structure on our and their side. Hahn presented fundamental screening plan, and we adopted conclusions, Zaev said at the joint press conference with Hahn. The government mandated the Secretariat for European Affairs together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to prepare a draft concept on EU negotiations by the end of July. Zaev underlined that EU negotiations are a historic task and a top priority. “Therefore, we send a message that the process will be led by the government, but it will also include the Parliament, the opposition, the judiciary, the civil society … Macedonia is moving forward,” Zaev said.

Xhaferi-Hahn: Macedonia needs to focus on implementing reforms (MIA)

With the decision of the Council of the EU on the opening of the process for launching negotiations in June 2019, the member countries have sent a clear signal acknowledging Macedonia’s efforts to implement reforms and good-neighborly ties. In the coming period, it is necessary the country to focus on fulfilling its tasks in all key areas, parliament speaker Talat Xhaferi and EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn concluded at their joint meeting Tuesday in Skopje. The parliament, Xhaferi said, is fully committed to continuing and enhancing the current reform-oriented incentive in order to deliver tangible results in the future, the Parliament’s press service said. Praising the progress made, Commissioner Hahn reiterated the strong support of the international community for Macedonia on its path to Euro-Atlantic integration and stressed the key role Parliament played in the process of aligning legislation. The coming period will require a focus on meeting tasks in all key areas, the two interlocutors concurred, stated the press release. Today’s visit of EU Commissioner Hahn marks the official start of the screening process of the European Commission with Macedonia to harmonize the national legislation with EU laws.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA SOURCES

European powers fear loss of influence in Balkans after London summit failure (World Socialist Web Site, by Julie Hyland, 17 July 2018)

The European Union (EU) summit on the West Balkans in London last Monday was overshadowed by the political crisis in the Conservative government over Brexit. Political and business leaders from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Croatia and Serbia attended, along with several EU leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. The event was part of the Berlin Process, set up by Germany in 2014. It was intended to keep the Balkan countries firmly on side, as part of EU and NATO moves against Russia, under conditions in which the EU effectively halted the accession process following the 2008 financial crash. Talk now is that no country will be accepted before 2025 at the earliest. Commentators had already noted the irony of London hosting the summit when it is attempting to exit the EU. But the UK is keen to prove that it will continue to play a role in Europe—especially in such strategic areas—post-Brexit. The government press release on the meeting stated, “The UK wants a strong, stable and prosperous Western Balkans region. By hosting the summit in London, we demonstrate our continued interest and involvement in the stability of the region beyond our exit from the EU.” More fundamentally, the London-based think tank Emerging Europe noted the comments of UK-based Serbian media correspondent Siniša Lepojević: “The Balkans, and namely those Balkan countries that are not EU members, remain the only space where the British can ‘flex their muscles,’ because they will exit the EU in March 2019. They need a presence in this part of Europe, because after Brexit, London will have nothing but NATO and the Western Balkans.” It was intended that Boris Johnson—as foreign secretary—would announce an increase in funding to the region to £80 million in 2020-2021 and the launch of a UK package of £10 million to “build digital skills and employment prospects” for young people in the region, as part of a Global-trade Entrepreneur Programme. But his audience was left waiting. Initially it was announced that Johnson was delayed due to an urgent meeting on the latest “Novichok” poisonings in Salisbury. It soon emerged that he was, in fact, gathered with his advisers, preparing his resignation from the cabinet over Prime Minister Theresa May’s “soft-Brexit” proposals. In the end, despite joint declarations on “Good Neighbourly Relations, War Crimes and Missing Persons” and “Principles of Information-Exchange in the field of Law Enforcement,” little of a concrete character came out of the gathering. The EU has committed to invest up to €150 million in 2019-2020, to help “unlock private investment in a broad range of sectors … thus tackling key bottlenecks hampering access to finance in the region.” But there was no movement on accession. Apart from Albania, the six Western Balkan countries that now want to join the EU (Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo and Macedonia) emerged from the collapse of Yugoslavia, which was actively promoted by the US and European powers to secure their hegemony over the Balkans.But, as noted previously, the regimes they helped bring to power are so corrupt and tied in with organised crime that delivering on the promise of EU membership would further destabilise the bloc.In May, the EU-Western Balkans summit in Sofia had postponed opening membership talks with Macedonia and Albania and made no mention of EU membership or enlargement more specifically. This was despite the Greece-Macedonia deal to resolve the 25-year dispute over the latter’s name, so that the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FRYOM) now becomes North Macedonia. Just days after the London summit, the EU imposed new conditions on Bulgaria’s application to join the euro, making it dependent on fulfilling extra criteria. These include passing European Central Bank stress tests and asset quality reviews of its banks before its application will even begin to be considered in July 2019. The Financial Times opined that the obstacles on Bulgaria—which joined the EU in 2007—were proof that the EU was “quietly changing its criteria for eurozone membership” out of concern for financial stability. However, failure to integrate the west Balkan countries has opened up space in the region for Europe and Britain’s competitors. It threatens to become a gaping hole under conditions in which US President Donald Trump has thrown a hand grenade into the transatlantic alliance, making clear he favours the break-up of the EU and has even criticised NATO. The summit debacle caused consternation in Britain’s ruling circles. The Economist complained, “Thanks to Boris Johnson, a farcical west-Balkan summit in London” at times resembled a “Carry On movie” [a famous and much-loved series of British comedy films].

The Financial Times warned, “EU’s waning influence opens a dangerous vacuum in the Balkans,” writing that Johnson’s no-show was a “fitting metaphor” for Western European leaders’ “disinterest in the Balkans.” Complaining that a “historic opportunity … is at risk of being lost,” it continued that it has opened “a vacuum that other powers—China and Russia—are seeking to fill.” The FT noted that only the previous weekend, China had organised its own summit with 16 central and eastern European countries in Bulgaria, “where Beijing lavished pledges of investment,” and accused Russia of “mischief-making” in trying to thwart NATO expansion. The seventh CEEC-China summit comes as Beijing invests heavily in the region as part of its $1 trillion Belt and Road Initiative. It has put millions into building and repairing infrastructure in Serbia—heavily damaged in NATO bombings some 20 years ago—including a $740 million highway, connecting Belgrade with Montenegro, and a $3 billion investment project for a 350km high speed rail link between Belgrade and Budapest. China is accused of politically backing Serbia against EU/US demands that it must recognise Kosovo, while Belgrade is regarded as a Russian ally. The Chinese company COSCO operates the Greek port of Piraeus, one of several major investments in the country that has been ravaged by EU austerity. China Everbright Group owns Tirana International Airport, in Albania, while Chinese corporations are invested in the country’s oilfields. Poland and Hungary are also part of the 16+1 initiative, and the county’s right-wing governments have repeatedly clashed with the EU. Politico, writing on Trump’s denunciations of Germany—which is the target of US sanctions against the EU—cited James Carafano, of the right-wing conservative Washington-based Heritage Foundation. Carafano noted “that some countries in Eastern and Central Europe resent Germany’s influence on the continent and might take pleasure in Trump’s approach to Berlin. ‘People say “Why is he making so many enemies in Europe?” but I say, “He might be making a lot of friends in Europe”,’ Carafano said, mentioning Poland as one example.”