As the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic reached the Balkans, Serbia has energetically taken its partnership with China to the next level. This happened as Belgrade embraced China’s “mask diplomacy” campaign of supplying medical equipment to the countries affected by the pandemic. However, while Russia has supplied aid to Serbia to combat the pandemic, it has not received the same attention from the Serbian leadership and public the way China did. Therefore, the pandemic has proven to be a potent ‘revealer’ and reminder of the lack of substance and depth of differences in the Serbo-Russian partnership.
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From Russia With Love?
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From Russia With Love?
About the Author
Vuk Vuksanovic is a PhD researcher in International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and an associate of LSE IDEAS. He writes widely on modern foreign and security policy issues and is on Twitter @v_vuksanovic.