Beijing Tries to Keep Friends in CEE

After losing an ally in Hungary and fearing another blow from Brussels, China is in a race to exploit more vulnerabilities

26 May 2026

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić arrived in Beijing on 24 May 2026 for a five-day state visit. This adds up to a series of high-level Chinese engagements in the EU’s eastern flank and neighbourhood in less than three weeks.

Almost at the same time as Vučić, Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mihai Popșoi was in Beijing on 21-25 May, the first visit by a Moldovan foreign minister to China in nearly eight years.

The week before, Li Hongzhong, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), led a delegation to Bratislava on 19-20 May, meeting Slovak President Peter Pellegrini, Prime Minister Robert Fico and Speaker of the National Council Richard Raši.

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Arslan Suleymanov

Arslan Suleymanov is an Assistant Editor at Visegrad Insight. Specialising in political economy and security, Arslan graduated from Civitas University and the European Academy of Diplomacy in Warsaw, Poland. He has written extensively on these topics for Visegrad Insight, The Poland Observer and the United Europe eV. Arslan is currently pursuing a Master's degree in International Political Economy at the Central European University in Vienna.

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