The deadlock on the road to the EU makes the countries of the Western Balkans vulnerable to Chinese influence

Namely, yesterday a publication was promoted in the country entitled "China's influence on the Western Balkans accession process to the EU: synergies and obstacles" on this topic.

 

Ana Krstinovska, one of the authors of this publication, believes that Chinese influence in the countries of the Western Balkans is most pronounced in trade relations, and in the last decade it has grown mostly thanks to the established cooperation between China and Central and Eastern Europe, but the stagnation of some Western Balkan countries towards the EU has opened additional opportunities for China to increase its influence, whether it is business or some other kind of influence.

 

Mostly we see an increase in the impact on the economy through increased trade, but in translation this means a large increase in imports from China, and when it comes to exports, our exports have increased slightly, but it is not in line with our expectations of how much we can import considering the size of the market in China, says Krstinovska. Chinese influence in Macedonia expressed through investments

 

Although Macedonia is the least attractive country for China, Chinese companies have been noticed that have bought foreign companies that have factories or production facilities in our country, so indirectly those production facilities in our technologically developed zones are owned by China, we also see the Chinese presence through infrastructure projects such as the Kicevo-Ohrid highway in our country.

 

Krstinovska says that Chinese influence should not be judged as bad, but there are also examples of negative influence, such as the conclusion of an agreement for the Kicevo-Ohrid highway.

- Only the Kičevo-Ohrid highway is counted because the contract award procedure itself was non-transparent and even though SDSM had the option to terminate it, it continued with additional annexes in the amount of 200 million euros and we see that the project is not even close to being completed. Therefore, it is an example that realistically depicts the negative aspects related to the Chinese presence in our country, in addition, we do not have large infrastructure projects or investments with a negative impact, unlike Serbia, she said.

 

And whether that influence will be reflected in our process towards the EU, she said that it depends only on us and the implementation of reforms that, among other things, include limiting the space for external influence.

 

- What is important on the way to the EU is how we will position ourselves and how much we want to implement reforms. The Chinese presence in the country can be positive if we use it as a positive, and it can be negative if we allow the conclusion of agreements on public procurement that are not in accordance with our legislation or European regulations. We are implementing membership reforms and some of these reforms will contribute to limiting the space for Chinese companies to do business or to conclude some deals behind closed doors, as was often the case in the past years, but China itself or the Chinese presence cannot be said to be the main obstacle, she said. Krstinovska.

Economic relations with other countries are not bad, but the focus should be on European goals

The director of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation office in Skopje, Daniel Braun, emphasized that although trade and economic relations with other countries are never bad, he said that it is very important to focus on the EU's goals, which are different from China's.

- China and the EU have different goals, this does not mean that we must not use Chinese technology, but if we have security insecurities, then perhaps we should ask ourselves whether we will use it. We should not sever all relations with China, but we should understand that we are talking about two sides with different goals, no one is saying that we should not learn Chinese, but that we should be aware of what may result from our actions. I believe that people in the region are getting positive points from Russia and China as a result of the disappointment in the EU, due to the EU accession process. Therefore, even if we are not sure whether the countries of the region will soon join, we should work on strengthening ties, giving more benefits that the EU countries have to the countries of the Western Balkans, Braun believes. The "steel friendship" of China and Serbia is crowned by free trade.

 

When it comes to Chinese investments, Serbia is definitely the most attractive country, and the closeness of the two leaders from these countries plays a big role. This was proven by yesterday's signing of the free trade agreement, which will allow both countries to export and import raw materials without customs costs or with significantly lower tariffs. In addition to this agreement, the two countries also signed a memorandum on exchange and cooperation in the field of economic development policy, a memorandum on joint promotion of industrial and investment cooperation, and a medium-term action plan for the "Belt and Road" Initiative.

 

Serbia is a country that is negotiating for EU membership, but at the same time it is strengthening relations with China, with which it cooperates in the field of infrastructure and defense. Representatives of the two countries have been describing their mutual relations for years as "sincere friendship".

The conclusions from the promotion of the publication "China's Influence on the Western Balkans EU Accession Process: Synergies and Obstacles" were intended to stimulate discussion about the spheres in which Chinese influence is present and what the consequences could be in the future.

 

- It is important for us to contribute to the opening of the forum, at a debate on the influence of China, its presence in the region and to determine its positive and negative influence in the region, as well as in how many spheres it operates and how much it affects the undermining of the EU's authority in the region and how the influence China can be harmful to the Euro-Atlantic process, which all the countries in the region are committed to, and how we and the EU countries can act to suppress or adequately respond to its influence, explains Katerina Jakimovska from the Wilfrid Martens Center for European Studies in Brussels.

 

Otherwise, the general conclusions of the panel are that, as far as Russian and other non-European actors are concerned, if stagnation in European integration continues, it is logical to expect an increased presence of other non-European actors in the countries of the Western Balkans. .