Valdai Club

For Serbia, partnership with China represents an opportunity to accelerate modernisation and strengthen its international standing, while for China, Serbia serves as a strategic ally in the Balkans, opening access to European markets. The successful development of Serbian–Chinese relations—despite Western pressure primarily on Belgrade, but often also on Beijing, as well as attempts at interference in their affairs—stands as a vivid example of China’s and Serbia’s commitment to an independent course, writes Milan Lazović, Programme Manager at the Russian International Affairs Council.

Belgrade’s reluctant move to comply with American sanctions and force Russia out of its energy industry exposes the real limits of national sovereignty in a world where the United States is asserting its will with increasing disregard for established norms and rules, writes Milan Lazović, Programme Manager at the Russian International Affairs Council