Nemanja Starović, Minister of Labor, Employment, Veteran and Social Policy of the Government of Serbia, spoke to Harici. Emphasizing that the focus of Xi Jinping and Aleksandar Vucic’s talks was on economic cooperation, Starović said Xi’s second visit to Serbia since the beginning of his term in office is “proof of the iron-clad friendship”.
Chinese President Xi Jinping concluded his five-day European tour after visits to France, Serbia and Hungary, where he held talks on trade, investment and the Ukraine war.
Journalist Dr. Esra Karahindiba has done a just-in interview with Nemanja Starović who has newly been appointed as the Minister of Labor, Employment, Veteran and Social Policy of Serbian Government. Starovic was the State Secretary of Minister of Defense of Serbia previously and replied to Harici’s questions last year.
How do you comment on the current bilateral relationship between China and Serbia? What stands out the most in the process of the development of the bilateral relationship over the past years? What policy matters were prioritized in the two leaders’ discussion agenda this time? What new outcomes do you expect there to be after President Xi’s trip?
First and foremost, the visit of President Xi to Serbia, the second one since the beginning of his tenure, served as proof of the iron-clad friendship our two nations have established in the previous decade. It was also a springboard for further enhancement of our cooperation in various fields, as 29 different agreements have been signed. We are especially proud of the fact that among them was our endorsement of the Community for the Shared Future in the New Era, the new platform initiated by China, which Serbia was the first to endorse. Apart from discussing all outstanding issues on a global scale, which is a necessity whenever two experienced leaders meet, the focus of the talks was naturally on bilateral economic cooperation.
China and Serbia have strong and deep cooperation on infrastructure projects, from stadiums, to bridges, highways and railways. But would there be any room for improvement of the bilateral cooperation if there is any or say, if there is anything expected beyond from a Serbian government perspective?
Our strategic partnership substantially grew in the previous decade and that is the most visible in the field of economy. Only 12 years ago, our overall exports to China were below 10 million USD, but in the meantime they increased to beyond 1.2 billion USD. That means we managed to multiply our exports by the factor of 140 in just ten or so years. Our total trade exchange today exceeds 6 billion USD, but when the newly signed free trade agreement between Serbia and China comes into effect on July 1st, we will increase it to 10 billion USD in a very short time. For the country the size of Serbia, those figures are really significant. The People’s Republic of China is the single largest foreign investor in Serbia, with more than 5 billion USD of direct investments, on top of various infrastructure projects we jointly develop. Chinese-owned companies are among the largest exporters of our country. Looking into the future, we are very interested in the application of new, sophisticated technologies in Serbia, involving artificial intelligence, leading to the production of Chinese electrical vehicles in our country and even flying taxi-cabs.
For the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and 16+1 framework, what are the possible perspectives of the EU and Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) on them and if there has been any evolution of the views, how have they evolved? What are some of the biggest challenges faced by BRI and 16+1 in Europe broadly and CEEC specifically?
Having in mind our geographical location in the middle of the Balkans peninsula, which has served as a natural “highway” connecting Asia Minor with Central Europe since the dawn of time, it is both natural and rational for us to participate in BRI, which aims for increased connectivity across Euro-Asia. Part of that large initiative is infrastructure which enhances connections between ports in the Aegean and Panonian basin through Serbia and North Macedonia. Those types of projects bring huge benefits to our people. To give you just one example – by constructing a new railway between Belgrade and Budapest, we have already connected our two most populous cities, Belgrade and Novi Sad, with a high-speed railway, transforming the travel between the two cities to a pleasant 35-minute commute. We are aware that some countries have left the China-CEEC framework, mostly due to pressures coming from the outside, but we don’t have any intention of making such a move. To quote the two leaders: president Vučić, who said that “we will never turn our backs to China”; and President Xi, who stated that “for China, Serbia is the first strategic partner in Central and Eastern Europe”.
On this trip, on the day of arrival of President Xi in Serbia, it was the 25th anniversary of NATO’s bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade. How does Serbia see today’s NATO? And how are the US and its allies trying to still exert influence on either Serbia or CEEC regionally?
It was not a coincidence that President Xi decided to come to Serbia on that very date, when we remember innocent victims, three Chinese journalists, who were killed by NATO bombs on May 7th 1999, during the course of NATO aggression against Serbia. Our joint remembrance binds us even stronger. President Xi emphasized that by saying that “our friendship is forged with blood and lives”. We will never forget those dark days, but we need to forgive. Today, the NATO alliance represents our immediate neighborhood. We are bordering 8 different countries and, except for Bosnia and Herzegovina, all of them are part of NATO. We have an active role within the NATO Partnership for Peace program, but our principal position is that we are not going to become a NATO member country. Military neutrality is one of two main pillars of our foreign policy, next to political independence, and we are very proud of both. It is common knowledge that many western countries are dissatisfied concerning our sovereign path in foreign policy, and certain pressure points are being activated all the time, one being the issue of our break-away province of Kosovo and Metohija, and another one related to our rejection to impose sanctions against the Russian Federation, but we manage to stay on the course that the vast majority of our people support nevertheless.
From a Serbian perspective, how do you see the relationship between China and Serbia? How does Serbia see China’s visit to Serbia? What does it mean to Serbia?
There are strong sentiments of pride and joy regarding the visit of President Xi to Serbia. Although Serbia is not nearly as big and important on a global scale as China, our Chinese friends are always showing great respect to our country. This is the second visit of President Xi to Serbia, while the heads of certain western countries have not visited Belgrade for decades.
What are some of the policy recommendations you would have for China-Serbia relationship and beyond?
I can only say that we have taken the right approach in our relations with China, and the results we have achieved so far are tremendous. With the new Free trade agreement, we will definitely upgrade our cooperation even more. Yet, all these achievements in economic cooperation are catalyzed by excellent political cooperation. Both China and Serbia are guided by the same principles in the international arena, such as sovereign equality, peaceful co-existence and non-interference in domestic affairs. We strongly endorse the One-China policy and Beijing strongly supports our political struggle to maintain our territorial integrity.
How do you thing the fact that Serbia being a European country is one of countries having top level relationship with China? How do you think this may affect any potential partnership with the West, including the EU? Can you say that Serbia places itself among Eastern Alliance?
Our cooperation and iron-clad friendship with China is not directed against anyone, and definitely not against the European Union. Our strategic goal is to join the European Union, and we are in the advanced stage of membership negotiations. However, the end game to that process is not in sight and the goal still resembles a moving target. We fully understand that once we become an EU member state, we will need to align with the common foreign and security policy of the EU, but we are not willing to give up on our traditional friends along that long and wriggly path.
Vis-à-vis France’s position and role in the EU, NATO and the West, what joint efforts could and should be done by China. Serbia and France in addressing common challenges, from climate change to conflict resolution? How to possibly decrease the impact and interference by the West led by the US?
As I have mentioned before, we consider China an iron-clad friend. At the same time, France is one of the most prominent partners Serbia has within the EU. We are always glad to see increased cooperation between the two, but we do not interfere in their relations. Both China and France have significantly increased their investments in Serbia in previous years. One good example is our mega-project concerning the long-awaited construction of the Belgrade metro, in which both Chinese and French companies are taking part.
How you look at the Russia-Ukraine conflict? What possible scenarios do you expect for it to end? What sort of conflict resolutions could be?
If history taught us something, it is that all wars end either by a peace treaty or total annihilation of one warring side. This tragic war in Ukraine will eventually end with some kind of peace treaty, and we strongly believe that sooner it happens, the better. We consider both Russians and Ukrainians brotherly peoples and feel great pain for any loss of life on the battlefield, especially for the civilian casualties. Serbia has condemned the violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, but we refuse to take any part in that tragic war. If there is a role for us in the peacemaking efforts, supported by both sides, we will always be glad to provide our good services.
What is your stance in Israeli massacre in Gaza? There are several news that Serbia might be secretly sending weapons to Israel. Can you confirm or deny those allegations? And in general, why is Serbia is moderately silent on Israel-Hamas conflict?
We have strongly condemned the barbarous Hamas attack on Israeli civilians on October 7th 2023, but also share the concerns regarding the suffering of civilians in the Gaza Strip. That is yet another war in which we do not intend to participate, but are always ready to help with peacemaking efforts if asked for. On the issue of weapons, we have never engaged in secret exports of any sort to anyone. We have a long tradition of manufacturing weapons and ammunition, primarily for our own needs, but also for exports. However, we strictly abide by international regulations in that field and always tend to be very transparent. Our cooperation with Israel in that area is a long-standing one, but the overall volume of our trade in arms and ammunition with Israel cannot even be compared with the volume of trade certain countries accomplish.
