Category: Aktualności

belgrade, serbia — Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Serbia this week brought out a crowd waving Serbian and Chinese flags and praising the “ironclad” friendship of two countries. Elsewhere in the West, it raised many questions about Serbia’s future role in Europe. 

Analysts say that was exactly the idea. At a time of global rivalry between Beijing and Washington, the messages Xi delivered from Belgrade appeared aimed at a much wider audience. 

Xi and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic signed a number of bilateral agreements on Wednesday, which followed the 25th anniversary of NATO’s bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade during NATO’s 1999 campaign to halt the ethnic cleansing of Albanians in Kosovo. The U.S. apologized for that action, calling it “a mistake.” 

David Shullman, an expert on China with the Washington-based Atlantic Council, told VOA that Xi’s arrival in Belgrade on the May 7 anniversary was aimed at sending a broader message in the context of the war in Ukraine: that China is not a “warmonger” like the U.S. and NATO. 

Chinese messaging, Shullman said, “parrots Russia’s messaging about the war in Ukraine, about not putting a blame on Russia, but putting a blame on the U.S., NATO for ‘fanning the flames’ of the war, continuing to support the Ukrainians, and that China is the one that’s the force for peace and stability. …  

“There is an awareness in the Chinese system [that] this is a key binding point between China and Serbia, and it fits into that message that China has been pushing about NATO and the U.S.” 

China’s president referred to the bombing of the Chinese Embassy in an op-ed published Tuesday in Serbia’s pro-government newspaper Politika: “The people of China value peace, but they will never allow a historical tragedy to happen again.”  

Paul McCarthy, director for Europe at the International Republican Institute in Washington, agreed that the timing of Xi’s visit was no accident. 

“I think that Xi’s entire visit to Europe was organized around the 25th anniversary of the NATO bombing,” he said. “It is too symbolic an opportunity for the Chinese to miss and underlines, so to speak, the position of Serbia and the strategic disagreement with the West that has been going on for 25 years.” 

Xi and Vucic signed a statement on the two countries’ “shared future,” which the Serbian president described as being a level above the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership the two countries agreed to in 2016. 

According to the Atlantic Council’s Shullman, Xi has often used the phrase “shared future” to indicate he wants a new balance of power in the world. 

“The story of a shared future is how China wants to establish a global order that is less U.S.-led, that is multipolar, that is a more ‘democratic’ international order — as the Chinese say,” he said. 

“In essence, it is an order that is no longer led by the U.S. and in which China plays a more significant role.” 

He added: “The fact that Serbia is spoken of as the first European country that will be part of the community and ‘common future’ shows that for Chinese leaders, especially Xi, Serbia is of great importance … as an economic partner and as a country that is a candidate for the EU.” 

In addition, Xi’s visit to Serbia signaled to Washington that China has reliable partners in Europe and that the U.S. “will not be able to completely win over Europe to its side.”  

China owns mines and factories across Serbia and has provided billions of dollars’ worth of funding for roads, bridges and various facilities, becoming Serbia’s key partner in much-needed infrastructure development.  

Still, some experts say the future of cooperation between Belgrade and Beijing is uncertain, given the complicated relations between the U.S. and China. 

Vuk Vuksanovic, a senior researcher at the Belgrade Center for Security Policy, told VOA that broadening cooperation between Serbia and China from a strategic partnership to the level of “building a community of Serbia and China with a common future in the new era” is little more than a diplomatic game that suits both governments at the moment. 

He added that the future relationship depends much more on Beijing than on Belgrade.  

“The previous strategic partnership agreement was a joint statement from 2009 that had warm rhetoric but did not actually bring about any monumental transformation of those relations,” he said. 

“And that was until the moment when China showed greater interest in the Balkans due to the Belt and Road Initiative,” a massive, Chinese-led global infrastructure development strategy. “I think the key question for the U.S. will be whether that cooperation will include some major project in the field of defense and high technology.” 

The International Republican Institute’s McCarthy said it is unclear how the agreements between Serbia and China and the plans for a “common future” will affect Serbia’s relationship with the West. 

Still, he noted, a free-trade agreement between China and Serbia that comes into force in July “turns Serbia more towards the East,” raising the question of “how serious is Serbia on its European path.” 

He added: “I have to say that, from Washington’s perspective, they might feel like they’re losing the battle for Serbia’s heart, so to speak.” 

This article originated in VOA’s Serbian Service with contributions from Dino Jahic, Marko Protic and Stefan Miljus.
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WASHINGTON — North Macedonia elected its first woman president Wednesday as the ruling Social Democratic Union of Macedonia suffered historic losses in presidential and parliamentary elections.

With nearly all the votes counted, university professor Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, the presidential candidate of the right-wing VMRO-DPMNE opposition party, won nearly 65% of the vote, with incumbent President Stevo Pendarovski winning 29%, according to the country’s State Election Commission.

In the parliamentary contest, the VMRO-DPMNE-led coalition Your Macedonia won 43% of the votes, giving it 58 of the parliament’s 120 seats, just short of a majority.

Although it was uncertain on election day whether the 40% turnout threshold for the presidential election would be reached, due to calls for a boycott, the State Election Commission reported that turnout exceeded 46%.

In her first post-election public address, President-elect Siljanovska-Davkova promised to “act as the president of all citizens, of all ethnic groups, of party members, of those who are not in parties, because a president, especially not if she is a woman, cannot unite and search for unity if he sticks to party lines.”

VMRO-DPMNE party head Hristijan Mickoski called the election results a “historic victory for North Macedonia and the people of Macedonia,” adding that the ruling Social Democratic Union, or SDSM, lost because of “crime, corruption, incompetence, false values, the confiscated state, tenders, nepotism and a hundred other consequences that made the state suffer and the people disappointed.”

SDSM officials have repeatedly rejected these criticisms.

SDSM head Dimitar Kovacevski congratulated the victors Wednesday while telling reporters that his party’s loss was “disappointing” and “a heavy blow.”

EU and NATO considerations

The country agreed to change its name from the Republic of Macedonia to the Republic of North Macedonia in 2019 following a decadeslong dispute with Greece over the designation.

In a 2018 referendum, voters in North Macedonia approved an agreement with Greece that included changing the country’s name in order to clear the way for its European Union and NATO accession. However, turnout for the referendum was less than the 50% threshold required to validate the results, leaving parliament to approve the change.

Mickoski has refused to acknowledge the country’s name change and the 2018 agreement with Greece. The opposition also supports standing firm in ongoing linguistic and historical disputes with neighboring Bulgaria, an EU member that has blocked North Macedonia’s EU accession negotiations.

EU membership negotiations with North Macedonia — and fellow-candidate Albania — began in 2022, and the process is expected to take years.

Commenting Wednesday on North Macedonia’s elections and their potential effect on the country’s EU accession bid, Deputy U.S. Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Gabriel Escobar said, “I am confident and hope that regardless of the elections in North Macedonia, the road to Europe will continue.”

On Tuesday, European Commission spokesperson Ana Pisonero told reporters in Brussels that “North Macedonia has committed itself to constitutional changes and, from our perspective, we believe that all political forces will focus on progress in the EU integration process.”

Pisonero added: “The European Council has clearly stated what the expectations are and we, for our part, fully support the perspective of North Macedonia’s membership in the EU, and we hope that we will be able to open the negotiation process as soon as possible.”

Corruption is an issue

The European Commission reported in November that corruption, another hot-button issue, “remains prevalent in many areas” of North Macedonia.

In December, U.S. Ambassador to North Macedonia Angela Aggeler said there was “an epidemic of corruption in this country that has affected every sector, every organization, and only by exposing the corrupt actors can we begin to help the country address these issues.”

The VMRO-DPMNE has accused the SDSM and its junior coalition partner, the Democratic Union for Integration, the third-largest political party and largest ethnic Albanian political party, of causing a “corruption pandemic.”

Wednesday was the third time that Macedonian citizens in the U.S. and elsewhere outside North Macedonia voted in the country’s presidential elections.

According to the State Election Commission, more than 2,300 domestic and international observers monitored the voting.
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Athens — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has officially dedicated an ancient Byzantine church as a mosque, drawing a protest from Greece. Many Greeks want a summit scheduled for Monday in Ankara between Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to be canceled. 

Greece’s criticism centers on the formal opening of the Church of St. Saviour in Chora as a Muslim house of worship, four years after it was converted. The ancient site was a museum before its conversion to a mosque and is a United Nations-protected monument revered for its mosaic masterpieces.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan presided remotely over the opening ceremony this past Monday from the presidential palace in Ankara.

While the move to open the site as a mosque has won praise from the Muslim faithful in Turkey, it has angered many Greeks, among them Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

He said Erdogan’s decision is “unnecessary” and an insult.

Speaking after talks Thursday with Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, Mitsotakis said if anything, the church’s conversion is an affront to, as he put it, the rich cultural history that Istanbul has to show for… at the crossroads of many civilizations.

The Church of St. Saviour in Chora is the latest ancient church that Erdogan has converted since ordering Istanbul’s prized landmark, the Hagia Sophia, to be transformed in 2020 to a Muslim house of prayer.  

Analysts view the conversions as part of an attempt by Erdogan to consolidate the conservative and religious support base of his ruling party amid an economic downturn gripping Turkey.

The latest conversion has also drawn criticism from the United States, with the State Department calling on Turkey to preserve the monument’s diverse history and allow access to all visitors.

In Athens, many political leaders are urging Mitsotakis to cancel a meeting he has scheduled with Erdogan for next week as part of a previously agreed plan to ease relations between the longtime foes. 

Nikos Androulakis, the leader of Greece’s socialist party, is among those calling for the talks to be called off.

“There is no way that I would go,” Androulakis said, adding, “This is a provocation.”

The prospect of canceling the talks is a “no-go,” said Mitsotakis.

“It is imperative to keep all channels of communication open,” said Mitsotakis.

He went on to say, “It is much better that I face President Erdogan in person and express my strong opposition to this latest conversion, than allow this matter to spark another crisis between the two countries.” 

Relations between Greece and Turkey have long been strained. The two neighbors and NATO members nearly went to war in 2020 over contested energy reserves in the Mediterranean. They have also been at odds over the divided island of Cyprus; it is split between a Turkish-Cypriot north and a Greek-Cypriot south.

Since 1974, several efforts by the United Nations and the United States to reunite the island have failed.

In recent remarks, Erdogan said all problems can be resolved between Greece and Turkey. In December, Erdogan made an official visit to Greece, where he met with Prime Minister Mitsotakis. They agreed on several measures to ease tensions.
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Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visits Turkey on May 13 for talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The leaders hope to ease tensions that have brought the two NATO members close to armed confrontation several times in recent years. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul. Camera: Berke Bas.
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Warsaw, Poland — Poland’s defense minister said Thursday his country is strengthening the metal barrier along its border with Belarus to deter illegal migration.

“We are mending the barrier on the Polish-Belarusian border, we are strengthening this barrier,” Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said on private Radio Zet. “The spending on these purposes is the highest in [Poland’s] history.”

Kosiniak-Kamysz said the increased presence of Polish and allied military forces in regions close to the border is also helping to tighten the eastern frontier of NATO and the European Union. That presence has been increased since Russia’s aggression in Ukraine in 2022.

He spoke in favor of Poland building a line of defensive bunkers, trenches and ditches along that border and the one with Russia’s exclave of Kaliningrad, steps that the Baltic states have already taken.

Poland says a massive wave of illegal migration from Belarus, especially in 2022, was orchestrated by that country and by Russia to destabilize Poland, a Ukrainian ally, and the European Union. The influx was largely curbed by the metal barrier that Poland completed last year, but some illegal crossings continue.

The minister’s comments also suggested that the barrier is seen as a wider defense measure during Russia’s war with Ukraine, which borders Poland.
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MARSEILLE, France — Joyful crowds gathered along the streets of France’s southern port of Marseille on Thursday to see torchbearers carrying the Olympic flame through the city’s most emblematic sites, a day after it arrived on a majestic three-mast ship for a welcoming ceremony. 

It was the first leg of an 11-week journey across the country for the torch, which will be carried by about 10,000 bearers as it passes through more than 450 towns until the Games’ opening ceremony in Paris on July 26. 

Former soccer player Basile Boli, who played with the Marseille team in the 1990s, kicked off Thursday’s relay from the Notre Dame de la Garde basilica that overlooks Marseille and the Mediterranean. 

“I’m very proud,” Boli said. “You feel like you’re on top of the world, because with an Olympic flame there’s a special fervor. … It’s the symbol of sport!” 

Basketball player Tony Parker later took his turn in the relay, praising “a great honor.” On a nearby crowded beach, swimmers and sunbathers cheered the torch bearers as the flame passed. 

“The enthusiasm of Marseille for the flame is phenomenal,” said Maurice Genevois, a local resident. “Honestly, I have rarely seen such a celebration.” 

Magali Evrard, who came from the town of Martigues, in Marseille’s region, said “it’s been so long since we started talking about this and now we’re in it! 

“We are on the road to Paris. We can’t wait, it’s great,” she added. 

A fencing champion, a skateboarder, a Michelin-starred chef and a comedian were also chosen to carry the flame on Thursday. 

“Let’s go for a fantastic celebration,” said Tony Estanguet, president of the Paris Olympics organizing committee. “The Games are back in our country. … Let’s share this fantastic moment of celebration with millions of people in the country.” 

Participants were scheduled to run all day past landmarks in the city to bring the torch to the roof of the famed Stade Vélodrome, home to Marseille’s passionate soccer fans. 

Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera said “it’s fantastic to give that sense of pride to the French people and to show to the whole world what we’re capable to achieve.” 

“‘We’re going to give happiness to the whole world,” she added. 

Torchbearers included Ukrainian gymnast Mariia Vysochanska, who won two gold medals at the 2020 European Championships and competed at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. 

Her inclusion was an expression of solidarity with Ukraine as well as a symbolic gesture to mark Europe Day, which falls on May 9 each year. Vysochanska led a group of 27 other athletes who represent all European Union member states. 

“It’s a way to really celebrate Europe, its values and also to demonstrate our attachment to the European sport model,” Oudea-Castera said. Ukraine received the green light last year to start accelerated talks on joining the EU. 

“(Ukrainians) face that terrible war of aggression, and we want to really express that we support them the best we can,” she added. “This is unity. This is hope. This is solidarity. And we want their victory.” 

Marseille on Wednesday celebrated with great fanfare the flame’s arrival, with more than 230,000 people attending the ceremony in the Old Port, according to the city’s mayor, Benoit Payan. 

During the Games, the sailing competition and some soccer matches will be held in Marseille. 
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The European Union has agreed in principle to a deal that would use the proceeds from frozen Russian assets to supply weapons for Ukraine. As Henry Ridgwell reports, allies in Washington want the EU to go much further
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In Barentsburg, Norway, a coal mining town in the high Arctic, Ukrainian residents lived side by side with Russians. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, however, Ukrainians have left the town after finding themselves in conflict with the Russian community. Henry Wilkins reports from Barentsburg.
Camera: Henry Wilkins 
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Turkey’s decision last week to stop all trade with Israel until Israeli leaders reach a permanent cease-fire in Gaza is likely to hit Israel’s economy hard. Adding to those concerns are signs Turkey is encouraging other nations in the Islamic world to do the same. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.
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