Escobar: China timed Europe visit to ‘create axis against EU integration’

The outgoing US Envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, has commented on Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to France, Hungary, and Serbia, agreeing that it was carefully timed to increase tensions with the West and aimed at creating a new axis against the European integration of the region.

In a briefing with journalists on Wednesday (08 May), Escobar was questioned about Russian and Chinese influence, Kosovo-Serbia relations, and Serbia’s position and actions in the region.

Asked by a journalist whether Xi’s visit to Serbia and Hungary raised concerns that he was working to create a new axis against European integration, Escobar said this was an accurate analysis.

“I do think that the countries that he has chosen are those that are open to challenging the unity of the Euro-Atlantic community.  And so we caution all of our partners and all of our particular interlocutors to be very aware of China’s agenda in Europe and China’s agenda about the Euro-Atlantic community,” Escobar said.

Serbia opens its arms and economy to 'Brother Xi'

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Belgrade on Tuesday (7 May) has raised eyebrows at a time when Serbia’s President Aleksander Vučić has continued to resist increasing pressure to align foreign policy with the West, in particular the EU.

The visit of the Chinese president to Serbia coincided with the accidental bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade during the NATO campaign of 1999, which brought an end to the Kosovo war.

Escobar said, “I think that the visit was timed to increase tensions between Serbia and the rest of the Western community, and it is unhelpful.”

He went on to say the US clarified the bombing of the embassy was an accident, has apologised and even paid reparations to the families.

“But I do believe that the timing of the visit was unfortunate but deliberate,” he said.

During Xi’s visit, it was announced Serbia would join the Global Community of Shared Future, becoming the first European country to do so. The concept was first made public by Xi when he addressed the Moscow State Institute of Internal Relations over a decade ago.

It aims to create a security environment that nurtures shared interests, promotes development, global governance, shared prosperity, and mutual understanding, among other things.

The two countries also signed 29 agreements focussing on regulatory, legal and economic cooperation and increasing trade between the two partners.

EU candidate Serbia and China chart 'shared future'

China and Serbia agreed to follow a “shared future” as President Xi Jinping visited the Balkan country as part of his bid to forge stronger relations with allies at the edge of the EU.

Solving Balkan problems to discourage Moscow

Xi is set to welcome Russian President Vladimir Putin to China in mid-May, raising eyebrows considering both Hungary and Serbia’s sympathies and closeness to Moscow.

Pressed on Serbia’s closeness to Russia and whether this risked drawing Russia into a “second battlefield” in the region, Escobar said,  “It would be  a mistake to look at Russia as the cause of the problems in the Balkans.”

He added that Russia takes advantage of the problems in the Balkans, which have existed for 25 years. “By resolving the problems, I think we close the opportunities for Russia to make mischief in the region, but they will try.”

As for Serbia, Escobar said the US has been “very clear” that it is welcome in the transatlantic family, but there are clear conditions for that.

“And we’ll continue to be very public and encourage privately as well that reconciliation, rule of law, and good peaceful relations with all neighbors is an important part of it,” he added.

Escobar’s mandate is set to finish at the end of this month, and at the end of the briefing, he disputed claims in some Kosovo media that he was fired due to an alleged conflict of interest involving his wife and the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“So I do want to say directly that everything in that report is a lie, and verifiably a lie.  First of all, I’m not being fired, and everyone at the State Department has verified that.  Second, my wife doesn’t receive any money from any foreign government,” Escobar said.

(Alice Taylor | Euractiv.com – edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos)

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