POSSIBILITIES FOR PROMOTING INTERCONNECTIVITY BETWEEN CHINA AND CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

LAĐEVAC Ivona (Research Associate, Institute of International Politics and Economics, Belgrade.), ivona@diplomacy.bg.ac.rs
Đorđević Branislav (PhD, Associate Professor. Institute of International Politics and Economics, Belgrade.)

Since the end of the cold war, during the last two decades of the Twentieth century, became obvious European Union’s intention to overcome the image of the political dwarf and economic giant. One could come to conclusion that the EU was successful in that intention: its borders were spread, number of member countries reached 28, its market enlarged, population as well, even the policies for far away neighbours has been created. But, surprisingly or not, although the Union has almost succeeded in weakening the influence that Russia once had over the socialist countries, the European Union is now faced with another challenge. This challenge came with the emergence of the new strategy that was born in China, “One Road, One Belt” aiming to gather all European countries in order to secure better perspective for each. Unlikely most of the European initiatives or policies, this strategy is not based on conditionality. It is based on equality and openness without any hidden intentions. In this analysis, the authors, from the perspective of the non-EU country (although the candidate country for the EU membership), will give an insight into the possibilities for promoting interconnectivity between China and Central and Eastern European countries.

Keywords: European Union, European policies, China, Serbia, “One Road, One Belt Strategy”, Central and Eastern European Countries