Garcevic Interviewed for Doc on China and the Balkans
Ambassador Vesko Garcevic, Professor of the Practice of International Relations at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, was interviewed for a recent documentary on China’s economic and political influence in the Western Balkans.
The documentary, produced by the Center for Investigative Reporting and entitled The Silk Road or Silk Cord, was broadcasted on the Montenegrin independent television channel Vijesti (News) on March 16, 2019.
An excerpt of Amb. Garcevic’s comments from the documentary:
Beijing’s “One Belt One Road” policy is already affecting the Balkans, and its presence is visible in almost every corner of the region, but countries from the region are not fully aware of the financial risks of dealing with China. The Chinese investments or Chinese soft loans in the Balkans are centered on transport infrastructure, the energy sector, and heavy industries. Chinese loans, granted under soft and permissible conditions, have led to an increase in the region’s debt burden. In many aspects, these arrangements resemble “debt-trap” projects in Africa and Asia. The four small countries from the region have already borrowed more than $5 billion dollars from China. Only, Montenegro got a billion-dollar loan from Exim Bank for a motorway running from the coast to the border with Serbia. The motorway “to nowhere” as many call this project has become a headache for Montenegro as it opens the question of its debt vulnerability. These make the countries from the region financially vulnerable and susceptible to Chinese economic and political interests.
You can watch the documentary below:
During his diplomatic career, Amb. Vesko Garcevic 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 a Montenegro’s National Coordinator for NATO from 2015 until he joined the faculty at the Pardee School.