BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — When Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Hungary last week, he arrived in one of the few places in the European Union where the country is seen as an essential ally rather than a rival. By the time he departed on Friday, he had secured a deal that provided fertile ground for China’s European economic expansion plans.
After meeting with nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Thursday, the two leaders addressed a small group of selected media in the Hungarian capital Budapest, announcing the launch of an “all-weather partnership” that ushered in a new era of economic cooperation. announced its formation.
While most EU countries seek to “de-risk” their economies from the perceived threat posed by China, Hungary is going in the opposite direction, arguing that the world’s second-largest economy is vital to Europe’s future. Out of conviction, he is calling for large-scale investment in China.
Mr. Xi and Mr. Orbán did not reveal any specific agreements after their meeting, but Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó later said in a video that they had agreed on a joint Hungarian-China railway bypass around Budapest and a high-speed rail link between Hungary and China. stated that it had reached. The capital and its international airport.
Prime Minister Orbán said the two countries agreed to expand cooperation in “all areas” of the nuclear industry, including China’s support in building a network of electric vehicle charging stations in Hungary and an oil pipeline between Hungary and Hungary. An agreement has also been reached on the construction of a Serbia.
Zussanna Veg, a program assistant at the German Marshall Fund and a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said that these agreements would help “China see Hungary as an important and reliable ally” within the EU, which is trying to reverse Europe’s position. “This is a clear sign that they are being treated as such.” Strengthen risk aversion policies.
Begu said in a statement that Xi’s visit was a sign that the Hungarian government is “indifferent to the concerns of its allies and is trying to engage with China in order to position itself to an advantage in what it perceives to be a developing, multipolar world.” “We continue to strengthen bilateral relations,” he said.
Hungary’s neighbor to the south, Serbia, has pursued a similar strategy and has offered Chinese companies a wide range of opportunities to develop natural resources and carry out large-scale infrastructure projects.
Like President Orbán, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has created an autocratic form of governance that eschews the pluralism valued in traditional Western democracies, with opaque direct transactions aimed at eliminating bureaucracy. This makes both countries attractive to China.
During Mr Xi’s visit to Serbia last week, Mr Xi and Mr Vučić signed an agreement to build a “common future”, making the Balkan country the first country in Europe to agree such a document with Beijing. Ta.
Vuk Vuksanovic, a senior fellow at the Belgrade Center for Security Policy, said President Xi’s interest in Serbia reflects his strategy to appeal to countries less involved in the U.S.-led economic and political community. Ta.
Mr. Vuksanovic said Xi’s “shared destiny” agreement with Belgrade was a sign of “China’s vision of an international order, a world in which China is far more powerful and where Western countries, primarily the United States, no longer have the ability to set the agenda.” It promotes order.” to others. ”
China has poured billions of dollars into investments and loans to Serbia, particularly in the mining and infrastructure sectors. The two countries signed a strategic partnership agreement in 2016 and a free trade agreement last year.
Serbia officially wants to join the 27-nation European Union, but it is gradually moving away from that path, and some of its agreements with China are not in line with membership rules.
Vucic is friendly with Russian President Vladimir Putin and has condemned Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but has refused to join international sanctions against Russia.
The red carpet treatment by Serbia and Hungary has worried some Western partners, who see China’s regional aggression as both an economic and security risk. Gabriel Escobar, the US special envoy for the Western Balkans, said Xi chose to visit neighboring countries because he is “open to challenging the cohesion of the Euro-Atlantic community.”
“I caution all our partners and all our interlocutors to be fully aware of China’s aims in Europe,” Escobar said last week.
In February, Hungary followed Serbia in signing a security agreement with the Chinese government that allows Chinese law enforcement officers to assist Hungarian investigators in their domestic police operations.
The government said its officials would ensure security for Chinese tourists and the large Chinese diaspora in Hungary. But critics say the officials could be used to control Chinese society as an extension of Mr. Xi’s one-party state.
While President Orbán has deepened ties with the Chinese government, he has also been involved in a long-running conflict with the European Union, with billions of billions of dollars sold over concerns that he is seizing democratic institutions and abusing EU funds. Dollar structural funds are frozen in Budapest.
There is no sign that that money will arrive any time soon, and Hungary’s pursuit of further development by China means that the government has “envisioned the possibility of financing such strategic infrastructure projects from EU funds.” Begg wrote:
While the influx of Chinese capital will benefit Hungary’s fast-growing economy, having production sites within the EU will also help Beijing avoid high tariffs and Europe’s increasingly protectionist policies. .
In December, Hungary announced that China’s BYD, one of the world’s largest EV manufacturers, would open Europe’s first EV production factory in the south of the country, calling for massive direct investment in EV battery production.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Thursday that these investments are what will keep Hungary competitive in the future, wherever it goes.
“The concept that drives Hungarians is that we want to win the 21st century and we don’t want to lose,” he said.
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Jovana Gec contributed to this report from Belgrade, Serbia.
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