In the backdrop of American and European sanctions against Chinese officials and China’s countermeasures, the fate of the Chinese geoeconomics in general and the BRI in particular hangs in the air, at least as far as the European part of the BRI geography is concerned. If we focus, for instance, on the Balkan region, the picture is gray. A MERICS analysis piece [Beijing fills gaps left by Brussels in the Western Balkan] argues that we should view the situation case by case: ‘Chinese finance can fuel positive development when projects are well-chosen and implementation is prudent, or it can bring out the worst in corrupt local elites.’ However, the mere availability of Chinese finance (as an alternative) undermines the EU’s leverage in creating regulatory convergence in the region.
Zooming out a bit, Globsec Brussels has produced a report [China in the Broader Black Sea Region] that situates the topic in the larger context of the Black Sea Region. The authors of the report, coming from several European universities and think tanks (including Clingendael), examine the role of China and its BRI in this broader region (including 17+1), the prospects of a possible transatlantic consensus on China, the perils and promises of European Strategic Autonomy in such dynamics, and the geoeconomics of this region between China, Turkey, and Russia on the one hand and the EU and US on the other.
Mamad Forough
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