Garčević Quoted on China’s Investment and Influence in Western Balkans
Ambassador Vesko Garčević, Professor of the Practice of International Relations at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, was quoted in Balkan Insight offering insight on the influence of China’s investments in the Western Balkans – many accompanied by controversy – has had on the region.
The article, titled “China in the Balkans: Controversy and Cost,” explores the impacts of China’s ever-expanding investments in the region, which have raised some concerns related not only to their environmental impact but to political influence, corruption, and growing debt. The article follows the release of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network’s new platform “China in the Balkans,” which aims to shed light on China’s increased activities in the six Western Balkans countries. Through this project, BIRN has identified 135 Chinese-linked projects in the Balkans worth more than 32 billion euros; few have come without controversy.
In discussing China’s investments in the region, Garčević says that the way governments do business with China is eroding already weak institutions, encouraging corruption, and slowing down progress towards European Union integration. On Montenegro specifically, he argues that “Montenegro is now more dependent on Chinese loans and unable to negotiate better business deals with China in the future…At the same time, such debt has rendered Montenegro increasingly unattractive to non-Chinese investors.”
The full article can be read on Balkan Insight‘s website.
During his diplomatic career, Ambassador Vesko Garčević dealt with issues pertinent to European security and NATO for almost 14 years. In 2004, he was posted in Vienna to serve as Ambassador to Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He had been a Montenegro’s Ambassador to NATO from 2010 until 2014 and served as Montenegro’s National Coordinator for NATO from 2015 until he joined the faculty at the Pardee School. Learn more about Ambassador Garčević on his faculty profile.