No one worships you like us – POLITICO

Vučić also stressed that when it comes to cooperation with Beijing, “the sky is the limit.”

Serbia stands out as an early adopter of Chinese investments in Europe, such as the construction of the Pupin Bridge in 2013.

Since then, investment initiatives have proliferated, including large infrastructure projects such as highways, the Smederevo steelworks and the Zijin mining basin. However, this expansion has come at a cost for Serbia, which has accumulated a debt burden of around 3.7 billion euros, due to the common practice of bundling Chinese investments into loan programs.

It is also the only European country to have acquired Chinese HQ-22 “Hong Qi” or Red Flag air defense systems, which has raised eyebrows due to the difficulty of integrating them into its existing weapons systems.

Xi stopped in Belgrade after two days in France with President Emmanuel Macron, and before a trip to Budapest to meet Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán – like Vučić, another thorn in the West’s side.

Trading Russia for China

Xi’s arrival was met with tight security measures that effectively paralyzed the Serbian capital, with more than 6,500 police stationed at key locations along the visit route, bestowing the Chinese leader with grandeur and the formality that corresponds to its objective of strengthening the country. importance in the West.