Belt and Road Initiative Poses Strategic Risks in the Western Balkans
The article analyzes how China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has embedded Chinese technology in critical infrastructure across the Western Balkans, raising national security and sovereignty concerns for EU and NATO members. Over €1 billion in Chinese loans have flowed into all Balkan states except Kosovo. The US Clean Network Initiative and the 2021 Washington Agreement between Serbia and Kosovo explicitly prohibit untrusted 5G vendors, targeting Huawei. Telekom Srbija Group, under Western conditional loans, has shifted from Huawei to Ericsson and Nokia for 5G rollout, prompting a damaging Russian cyberattack. The article highlights how Balkan states are caught between East-West rivalries, with Chinese tech seen as a risk to EU integration and democratization, while Russia and Iran exploit the region's strategic ambiguity to undermine Western influence.
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