Chinese New Year celebration as Belgrade’s message to Beijing

According to politics expert Igor Novakovic, the event was intended to send a political message to official Beijing that Serbia wants to continue the decades old partnership with China.

Novakovic, research director at the International and Security Affairs Center, told N1 that the event was initiated by artist Slobodan Trkulja and was accepted by Serbian institutions. He said the phrase steel friendship was used, adding that it is more suited to Chinese than Serbian and was meant to show that Serbia is a reliable partner.

According to Novakovic, this is about fresh money coming in as new investments and loans and regional issues. “China was restrained on Balkan issues for a time and then changed in 2021,” he said adding that Beijing could be politically interested in the region. “Belgrade seems to be counting on that,” he said.