Serbian president among European leaders to focus on post-retirement Belt and Road work

Following the example of former prime ministers Romano Prodi of Italy, Jean-Pierre Raffarin of France, Waldemar Pawlak of Poland and other high-ranking European political figures, Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic has shown his intention to contribute to Belt and Road Initiative cooperation with China after stepping down soon.

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, who was elected president in April, will replace the 65-year-old Nikolic on June 1.

"During his recent visit in China, President Nikolic considered setting up a Belt and Road Initiative office in Belgrade after his retirement," Li Manchang, Chinese ambassador to Serbia, tells China Daily.

Similar to the example set by US politician Henry Kissinger, now age 93, Nikolic will focus in his post-retirement work on promoting the relationship with China, and the office he proposed will cover all areas of China-Serbia ties, says Li.

Nikolic came up with the idea during his recent visit to China, saying the China-led Belt and Road Initiative is of great significance to the future of people around the world, Li says.

During his presidency, Nikolic upgraded the strategic relationship with China. Last year, President Xi Jinping visited his country, and a joint agreement was reached to make the two countries' relationship an example for China's ties with other European countries.

Since Xi proposed the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013, many European think tanks have put their research capacity into the proposal, which is designed to bring Asia, Europe and Africa closer.

With a growing number of politicians joining in to advocate the efforts, former Italian prime minister Prodi, also former president of the European Commission, and former French prime minister Raffarin have stood out, launching Belt and Road-themed academic projects and organizing debates and dialogues.

Serbian scholars have also shown great interest in setting up China themed think tanks in Serbia, which they say is a gateway country in the Balkan region.

The Institute of International Politics and Economics in Belgrade is the country's renowned academic organization with a history of 70 years. Ivona Ladjevac, its coordinator for international cooperation, says the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences is the key contact in China, and both sides have implemented joint research programs smoothly under the 16+1 framework, which encompasses China and the 16 Central and Eastern European countries.

"Out of our 30 research staff, five of us have focused on Belt and Road Initiative research," says Ladjevac, who is also involved and has begun to learn Chinese.

Dusko Dimitrijevic, former director of the Institute of International Politics and Economics, says his institute, together with CASS, organized a high-level silk road forum last year during President Xi's visit.

"We have the intention to set up a joint center for research cooperation to promote think tank networking under the 16+1 framework," says Dimitrijevic.

"We hope we can become the coordinator of our region in the future in terms of academic cooperation with China."

Listing China - along with the United States, Russia and the European Union - as one of the country's four strategic priorities, Dimitrijevic says it is essential to set up such a coordination center.

Regarding Dimitrijevic's proposal, ambassador Li says China and Serbia are making efforts to improve exchange mechanisms and platforms to catch up with the sound momentum of their bilateral relationship.

"It is encouraging, and I think that think tank cooperation will be promoted as well in the future," says Li. "If President Nikolic takes the lead in setting up a China-Serbia cooperation office after his retirement, I propose that think tank cooperation will be part of his efforts."

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(China Daily European Weekly 05/05/2017 page7)