Analysis: Is the West losing a battle with China for Serbia's heart?
Voice of America
A man waves Chinese and Serbian flags as he waits for the arrival of Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Serbian counterpart, Aleksandar Vucic, outside the Serbia Palace in Belgrade, May 8, 2024. Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and his Serbian counterpart, Aleksandar Vucic, greet the crowd at the Serbia Palace in Belgrade, May 8, 2024. This handout photo from Serbia's presidential press service shows Chinese President Xi Jinping, with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, greeting the people gathered outside the Palace of Serbia during a welcome ceremony in Belgrade, May 8, 2024. An illumination in the form of the Chinese flag appears on the Belgrade Tower ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit in Belgrade, Serbia, May 7, 2024.
Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Serbia this week brought out a crowd waving Serbian and Chinese flags and praising the "ironclad" friendship of two countries. Elsewhere in the West, it raised many questions about Serbia's future role in Europe.
Slovak Defense Minister Robert Kalinak addresses a press conference in front of the F D Roosevelt University Hospital in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia on May 19, 2024, where Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is being treated. FILE - Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico speaks during a press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, Jan. 24, 2024.
FILE - A child kicks a football in front of a mural of the country's first Black president and leader of the ruling African National Congress Nelson Mandela, in Soweto, South Africa, as the country celebrates Freedom Day, on April 27, 2024. FILE - South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, center, dances to music as he attends Freedom Day celebrations in Pretoria, South Africa, on April 27, 2024. FILE - Main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) party leader John Steenhuisen waves to supporters in Pretoria, South Africa, on Feb. 17, 2024, at the party's manifesto launch ahead of the 2024 general elections. FILE - Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema at the party's manifesto launch in Durban, South Africa, on Feb. 10, 2024. FILE - Former South African president, Jacob Zuma, sings and dances after addressing his supporters of the UMkhonto WeSizwe, (MK) party outside the High court in Johannesburg, South Africa, on April 11, 2024.
Ella Anthony, left, and her partner Doris Ezuruike Chinons pose for a photo with their dog Paddy, during an interview in their house in Passo Corese, near Rome, Italy, March 11, 2024. Ella Anthony and her partner Doris Ezuruike Chinons show photos of themselves during an interview in their house in Passo Corese, near Rome, Italy, March 11, 2024. FILE - Chris Agiriga, 23, one of the Nigerian men arrested on charges of public display of affection with members of the same sex, walks with a friend on the streets of Mushin in Lagos, Feb. 14, 2020. Ella Anthony smiles during an interview in the supermarket where she works, in Rome, Italy, March 26, 2024.