Croatia rarely features in debates about Chinese influence in Europe, and that near-absence is itself a very useful indicator about the bilateral relationship. The country has experienced a decade of substantial economic cooperation with Chinese state-owned firms without generating any apparent political closeness, public controversy, or foreign-policy hedging seen elsewhere in the region. While this could imply firm political stewardship, it also reveals cracks in the underlying structure:...

• Croatia, Infrastructure, Public opinion

When foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI) is discussed in the Western Balkans, Russia is often the primary reference point. Russian influence operations have attracted considerable attention because of their use of polarizing narratives, conspiracy theories, disinformation and attempts to exploit existing political and social divisions. China presents a different, although increasingly relevant, model.

• FIMI, Narratives, Multipolarity

Chinese tourism is returning to Southeast Europe. However, this process is developing unevenly. Serbia and Montenegro have surged past their pre‑pandemic peaks, Bosnia and Albania show strong momentum, while Croatia and North Macedonia continue to rebuild. These differences reveal deeper structural factors shaping China’s presence in the region: visa regimes, connectivity, political alignment, and the enduring appeal of multi-country itineraries. Understanding these dynamics is essential for...

• Tourism, Western Balkans, Travel

While the world was still coping with the effects of COVID-19, China was already looking toward what would come after: not just the pandemic's aftermath, but the broader shift in the global order that seemed increasingly likely after nearly three years of disruption. With its recognized track-record of long-term planning and forward-thinking, it should have come as no surprise that China seized the moment to serve the global community with a new idea anchored in the grievances of the pandemic.

• Global Governance Initiative, Media, Serbia

Ask ten people in Southeast Europe what Chinese influence in the region actually looks like, and the answers will cluster at two extremes. For some, China is a strategic and security threat, buying loyalty through debt, elite capture and infrastructure. For others, it is a product of Western scaremongering, a story that inflates a marginal and beneficial presence into a geopolitical drama. Both pictures are confidently drawn, but neither is complete or particularly reliable. The gap between...

• Polarization, Expertise, Strategy

During 2025 we can find a noticeable increase in Chinese trade with the Western Balkans. Still, the trade imbalance continues to shift in favor of China. We see certain changes in the region’s destinations that are drawing the most attention from China. Leading countries such as Serbia reinforced bilateral trade with Chinese companies, while others such as – Albania and Bosnia and Hercegovina - show slow signs of re‑appearing from low points of departure. In Kosovo, “imports from China havedoubl...

• Trade, Deficit, Western Balkans

From the outside, Serbia appears to be moving closer to China. President Aleksandar Vučić’s recent visit to Beijing, his third in less than three years, reinforced the impression of a deepening strategic partnership. China’s growing economic footprint, political visibility, and public diplomacy efforts all suggest a country expanding its influence in the Western Balkans. Yet public opinion tells a more nuanced story. A new nationwide survey of over 1,700 respondents - originally collected by...

• Serbia, Public opinion, Polarization

While the US and the EU utilize Bosnia as an arena for their new geopolitical struggle, China keeps expanding its business presence in the country with far less public scrutiny. Latest session of the Peace Implementation Council (PIC) – the ad-hoc body made of Western countries overlooking the work of the Office of the High Representative (OHR) – ended with the so far unseen disagreements between the US and EU diplomats.

• Bosnia and Herzegovina, EU accession, Infrastructure

The global phenomenon of commercial trade between countries, regions and continents is primarily defined by maritime trade. According toThe Economist, until recently roughly 80 percent of the world’s trade (by volume) traveled by sea. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran and the blockade being applied by the U.S. military have reinforced the critical importance of entry and exit corridors for global trade to navigate the safe passage of goods, primarily energy supplies, fertilizer, and...

• Overcapacity, Trade, De-risking

Taiwan's presence across the six Western Balkan states - Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia is politically constrained, economically modest, and institutionally poor. All six countries formally uphold the One-China Policy, although their motivations and degrees of alignment with Beijing differ. While the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has expanded its economic, diplomatic, and technological footprint in the region, Taiwan has remained largely...

• Taiwan, Engagement, One-China Policy