In recent days, Europe has set off a new wave of using the so-called "Taiwan issue" to target China. Lithuania, a small country in Eastern Europe, has taken the lead. The European Parliament has advocated to the EU to "enhance Europe-Taiwan relations", and a former French congressman has visited Taiwan. ..., this noise unexpectedly made a familiar name become a hot word again.
The President of Serbia met with Foreign Minister Wang Yi to talk about global development and economic recovery. By the way, the license for the Nosu section of the Hungary-Serbia railway was blocked by the EU for many years. After a series of operations, the country's President Vucic, who once became popular on the Internet for "choking in tears and asking for help due to the new crown", once again made media headlines.
Here, some people may wonder, is Vucic a speculator who takes advantage of the wind, or is he a true friend of China?
Vucic’s tears
Regarding Serbian President Vucic, opinions on the Internet are divided into two extreme groups: The group believes that he has inherited the traditional friendship with China from the Yugoslavia era and has not forgotten to be grateful for assistance. A good friend of China; the other group believes that his actions such as crying, kissing the national flag, and high-profile praise are full of deliberate stage performances and should not be overly trusted.
It all started when the new coronavirus epidemic swept the world.
When the first wave of the epidemic hit, varying degrees of shortages of medical resources and shortages occurred in various parts of the world. Masks, gloves, test kits, ventilators and even hand sanitizers and disinfectants are all in short supply. Britain, France and Germany have detained masks from other countries, and these three countries have in turn been detained by the United States in medical supplies.
There are not enough masks in Britain, France and Germany. It is conceivable that those countries in Europe with smaller volume are facing difficulties in medical resources.
Against this background, "Vucic's Tears" has become a rapidly spreading Internet platform.
Vucic, the president of a country and nearly two meters tall, asked the camera for help, even with tears in his eyes and a choked voice: "European unity is just a fairy tale written on paper! Only China can help Serbia People..."
In fact, the public request for help in the TV speech is not the first time that Serbia has expressed high praise for China's anti-epidemic work. Prior to this, Vucic had already publicly stated that China has performed well in the fight against the new crown epidemic and is the country most qualified to share its experience.
In response to the request for help, China quickly provided Serbia with much-needed medical resources on the premise of containing the domestic epidemic. Within a week, a medical expert team was in place.
The president, known as "577"
For this batch of urgent medical support, Vucic and the government behind him showed extremely high etiquette standards: the president led people to greet the medical team at the airport, because During the epidemic, you cannot hug or shake hands, so you bump elbows with members of the medical team one by one in person.
Perhaps feeling that bumping elbows was not enough to express his excitement, Vucic kissed the five-star red flag at the airport. This action was captured by reporters at the scene and quickly made headlines in major media. After receiving the supplies, Vucic did not forget to express his gratitude to China at any time.
He posted a message on social platforms to thank China, with a picture of the national flags of the two countries mingling; he praised the Chinese expert team for "visiting almost all cities in Serbia with severe epidemics" and bringing knowledge, experience and confidence; September 30 , the President also made a special trip to the Chinese Embassy in Serbia with a group of senior officials to express his wishes for the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival.
No one dislikes feedback full of positive energy. This series of operations quickly made him popular on the Internet. Coupled with the addition of old events from the Yugoslavia period, the president soon had his own exclusive nickname - a homonym for the Chinese translation. of "577".
What’s even more interesting is that this nickname has obviously reached my ears.
On the eve of this year’s Spring Festival, Vucic said in an interview with Chinese reporters that he “never hesitates to express his gratitude to China.” By the way, he also showed his greeting card to the Chinese people, with “577” written on it at the end.
The Progressive Party still flaunts its identity as a nationalist and is still non-pro-European. However, compared with the Radical Party’s concept of “never joining the EU”, the Progressive Party is more pragmatic and compromising.
is in Europe, but he frequently expresses his affirmation and praise of China in a high-profile manner. It is conceivable that there will be some chain reactions happening to him. The one with the greatest impact is the "White House Small Bench" incident .
A small chair in the White House
Last October, a live photo of US President Trump receiving the President of Serbia in the White House office leaked. The tall Vucic was sitting in a "small chair in the White House." This matter spread through the speech of Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Zakharova and became a hot topic again.
Zakharova's speech was very Russian. She believed that the treatment given by the United States was "like an interrogation" and was completely intolerable. Everyone should learn from Sharon Stone's arrogant sitting posture in "Basic Instinct". Fight back at the United States.
Chinese netizens generally believe that this is a typical American sneaker. It is probably because Vucic showed his closeness to China during the new crown epidemic that he was humiliated in the White House.
There are even many people who are fighting against Vucic, believing that the United States is really arrogant and unreasonable relying on its status as a great and powerful country. It is quite rare that the experience of the president of a European country has triggered such widespread sympathy halfway around the world.
However, in response to this matter, Serbia has clearly shown an attitude of "no offense to both sides". Vucic admitted that he sat on a chair instead of a sofa, and added that Trump opposite him was sitting on a "slightly higher armchair," and commented that this is commonplace when big countries want to establish their authority.
Another senior official under his command was even more explicit. He said that Vucic had to wait for an hour and a half in Russia before being received by the Russian president, and even so, "even if he was in the White House, Never said anything bad about Russia."
It seems that when the country is not strong enough, leaders have to face various helplessness.
Vucic the person
To understand Vucic’s attitude and behavior in the positions of prime minister and president, it is necessary to understand his family background and growth process.
Vucic is a Serbian born in Belgrade. His grandfather died in the massacre of the Croatian far-right organization Ustasha during World War II, and his family fled. The feud between the Ke and Serbian clans that lasted in the former Yugoslavia also left its mark on Vucic's family.
Vucic comes from a wealthy family. His father is an economist and his mother is a journalist. When he grew up, he took over his parents' connections and became a journalist. He soon joined the far-right nationalist Serbian Radical Party (SRS) and emerged among them, becoming a widely watched rising star in the political arena.
"Exclusive Interview: China and Serbia are true friends sharing weal and woe - Interview with Serbian President Vucic", All time high. Vucic followed his mentor, Radical Party leader Nikolic, to quit the Radical Party, and started over to establish the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). They called this act a "just backstab."
The Progressive Party still flaunts its identity as a nationalist and is still non-pro-European. However, compared with the Radical Party's concept of "never joining the EU", the Progressive Party is more pragmatic and compromising.
This attitude conformed to the public opinion at the time and soon gained an advantage in the general election. In 2012, Nikolic became president through the general election, and Vucic successively served as defense minister and prime minister. Since then, Serbia has begun its long road to joining the European Union.
Serbia’s long road to Europe
Nikolic took office as president in 2012. He left office five years later, and Vucic was elected as the new president. In order to join the EU, the two presidents who were born in SNS have worked hard for eight years, and formal talks on Serbia's accession to the EU have been held for six full years, but they have never been able to make any progress.
In order to ease relations with Europe, Nikolic not only relaxed his tone on the Kosovo issue, but also relaxed a lot on culture. But the most critical issue of Kosovo’s sovereignty is that Serbia is unable to retreat under the huge nationalist energy, but the EU simply stated that “recognition of Kosovo’s independence is a prerequisite for Serbia to join the EU.”
Over the past few years, Serbia's situation and demands have some similarities with Ukraine . is also for economic reasons, and there are a lot of calls in China to join the EU; however, even if it actively approaches the EU, the EU may not be willing to accept this country.
Vucic was sworn in as president in 2017 and once said that he hoped to join the EU before 2020. However, for many years, Serbia has only received endless scrutiny and control from the EU, and its accession to the EU is still far away. The -Serbia-Hungary railway that was readily signed during this meeting with Minister Wang Yi is one of the projects that has been put on hold indefinitely due to EU review.
Some people believe that Serbia is too tough on sovereignty and diplomatic issues, which makes it difficult for European countries to trust and accept it. This brings us to Ukraine. This country has made various concessions. In order to serve as a pawn for , NATO, and , it even had a hard time with Russia. But in the end, didn’t it get a ticket to the EU?
When the epidemic hit in 2020, Vucic publicly said that "the EU's unity is a fairy tale written on paper." It seems that he worked hard for six years and endured for six years before finally coming to the conclusion that the EU is unreliable, but in fact, Vucic has never been as dead-set on the EU as Ukraine.
A committee headed by the former president
Among Serbian government agencies, there is a department called the "National Committee for Cooperation with China and Russia". It was established around the time Vucic was elected as the new president in 2017 and was led by his mentor, former President Ni Colic personally served as chairman and general manager.
The cooperation between China and Russia actually requires a special department to be responsible for it, and it is personally led by the former president. This detail seems quite subtle. The former president and current chairman of the committee was also one of the senior officials who accompanied the president to the Chinese Embassy in Serbia on the eve of the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival last year.
In 2018, the establishment of an army in Kosovo caused tension in the Balkans. Following appeals from the international community, Serbia agreed to negotiate with Kosovo, but asked the United States, China and Russia to intervene in mediation because "the EU can no longer guarantee that the previous agreements between the two parties will be implemented as promised."
Although Serbia has made various efforts and concessions in the hope of getting closer to Europe and joining the EU, unlike Ukraine, this country has always been able to hide as far away as possible from European sanctions on Russia. As for European sanctions against China, Serbia has never interfered.
Therefore, the relationship between Serbia and Russia has been maintained fairly well. At the beginning of this year, Vucic ignored U.S. warnings and attended the newly opened "Turkish Stream" natural gas pipeline. This is a new pipeline that bypasses Ukraine and ensures that Serbia can still stably purchase affordable natural gas from Russia.
Not only that, because the gas supply contract between the two countries has expired recently, Russia plans to use a new formula to sign a new contract. In layman's terms, it will increase the price, and if it increases, the price will triple. Vucic has already agreed on a meeting time with Putin, hoping to negotiate a deal to buy gas at an affordable price.
Whether it is affordable natural gas from Russia or medical supplies from China, these things are closely related to the lives of Serbian people. Not to mention Serbia's seeking support from Russia and high-profile evaluation of China's anti-epidemic results must have been done under pressure from the United States.
can strike a good balance between several major political entities, safeguard the interests of the country and the welfare of the people, and even abandon personal honor and disgrace for this. He is already a good leader.
Regarding what kind of person Serbian President Vucic is, it actually doesn’t matter whether he is a friend or not, nor does it matter whether he is hypocritical and shows off. Countries and their relationships are complex topics, and it is difficult to make direct analogies using personal thinking.
As the saying goes, "No one is perfect in the world when it comes to deeds," if you only stick to the idea that if a political figure is friendly to our country, he is a good person, it is easy to fall into the "diode" style of not looking far-sighted and only looking at appearances. Thinking errors.
For Serbia and China, whether Vucic represents Serbia’s national interests and what standards he bases his judgment and decision-making on are much more important and more useful than what kind of person he is.
Official reference:
"Serbian President Vucic meets Wang Yi", Xinhuanet 2021-10-29
"Exclusive Interview: China and Serbia are true friends sharing weal and woe - Interview with Serbian President Vucic", Xinhuanet 2021-2- 10
"Exclusive Interview: China has achieved great achievements under the leadership of the Communist Party of China - Interview with former Serbian President Nikolic", Xinhuanet 2021-6-24
"Vucic: China shipped ventilators when no one helped Serbia", CCTV Net2021-2-21
