China replaces Russia and EU in Serbia politics.
It is stated that the four-polar balance policy that Serbia traditionally established between the European Union, the USA, Russia and China has now lost its function and Beijing has become the country's "second true pillar". The Euractiv portal wrote that Moscow was pushed into a secondary plan for Belgrade and that Chinese influence gained a strategic weight, from the defense industry to infrastructure.
It is noted that Serbia's long-standing foreign policy strategy based on the European Union, the United States, Russia and China has now become invalid and the key divide for Belgrade has begun to take shape between the EU and China.
According to information based by Euractiv on European Union officials and political experts, China has started to play a much more prominent role for Serbia in the fields of economy, transportation and arms supply.
Nenad Stekic, Senior Researcher at the Institute of International Policy and Economics, stated in his assessment on the subject that China has risen to Serbia's most important non-Western partner and the country's "second genuine pillar".
Stekic stated that the balance policy that Belgrade pursued between the four power centers in the past has changed.
Within the scope of the new strategy, Moscow has regressed to the second place for Belgrade, and the European Union and the USA are now considered a single bloc.
In this process, it is seen that Serbia has systematically increased its economic interaction with China. It is emphasized that the Beijing administration, unlike the European Union, does not impose any institutional reform conditions when investing in Serbia's infrastructure projects.
It is reported that Chinese companies are currently active in critical projects such as the construction of the Belgrade metro.
Although Serbia has maintained European Union candidate country status since 2012 and Brussels continues to be the country's main donor and financial partner, the EU side continues to demand extensive institutional changes from Belgrade.
An EU representative reminded that the relations between the union and China maintain the complex structure and that Beijing is seen as a "systemic rival" by Brussels.
Euractiv states that the deepening of contacts between China and Serbia may lead to more tension in relations between the European Union and Belgrade.
China's presence in the country is not only limited to the economy, but also gaining significant momentum in the defense sector. According to the data of Marko Todorovic, a researcher at the European Policy Center in Belgrade, 57 percent of Serbia's total arms imports between 2020 and 2024 were made of products of Chinese origin.
Todorovic stated that the total military shipment from Russia and France lagged behind China in the same period.
Independent Chinese analyst Stanislav Knezevic said that China has managed to become Serbia's primary non-Western partner by replacing Russia in the field of defense in a few years.
The news notes that despite Russia's current political and cultural partnership with Serbia, it can no longer offer a similar level of strategic and economic partnership with China.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic stated in his statement in 2023 that they want to build an independent policy by maintaining good relations with China, Russia and the European Union.
Vucic added that despite the search for this balance, Belgrade maintains its intention to move forward on the way to Europe.