Serbia reaches out for China’s helping hand in coronavirus fight

Serbian president calls for help from ‘the only country that can help us’

As the outbreak appears to be under control on the mainland, Beijing extends its Covid-19 diplomacy to central and eastern Europe

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Women in face masks at Belgrade's main bus station, one day after Serbia declared a state of emergency to halt the spread of the new coronavirus. Photo: AFP

Published: 3:00pm, 17 Mar 2020Updated: 3:42pm, 19 Mar 2020

When Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic declared a state of emergency on Monday due to the Covid-19 pandemic, he made a specific call for help to his Chinese counterpart.

“I believe in my brother and friend, Xi Jinping, and I believe in China’s help,” Vucic said at a press conference in Belgrade. “The only country that can help us is China.”

With fewer than 50 cases and zero deaths, Serbia is barely on the radar for epidemiologists and international media – let alone for the leaders of the European Union, to which the Balkan state does not yet belong.

But for Chinese officials, Serbia provides a classic opportunity to show Beijing’s solidarity with Central and Eastern European countries, extending coronavirus diplomacy to a region that has in recent years become a geopolitical battleground for influence between the EU and China.

As China’s coronavirus outbreak appeared to be under control last week, Beijing has resumed its diplomatic activities all over Europe.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. Photo: AP

On the one hand, there have been provisions of medical equipment – either at market price or for free – to the worst-hit countries such as Italy and Spain. On the other, Chinese officials have been organising sharing sessions with less-developed countries in central and eastern Europe, 17 of which have joined China’s “17+1” platform.