“There is definitely China fatigue in the region,” said Ivana Karaskova, a China research fellow at the Prague-based think tank the Association for International Affairs. “The expected influx of Chinese investment has not materialized…and the countries are now more interested in exploring ways of cooperating with Taiwan.”
Ivana Karásková, The Wall Street Journal“ANO has won elections based on a pretence that Babiš is not a part of the establishment and that he would deal with [a] corrupted political elite…Corruption as a topic, either the real one or imaginary, seems to resonate well with the electorate.”
Ivana Karásková, Euronews“After the last year’s elections, Lukashenko faced unprecedented pressure at home, which resulted in an increasing dependence on Moscow, offering Putin additional leverage.”
Pavel Havlíček, Emerging Europe“The overall sentiment in the Czech Republic’s policy circles, excluding the extreme political parties, is cautious [on Russia].”
Ivana Karásková, Euronews“Babis has presented social policy achievements as not only the result of his government led by ANO but also as a result of his personal intervention.”
Ivana Karásková, Euronews“Most Czechs are really tired of the epidemic and do not want to think too much about the more than 30,000 dead from the spring wave of coronavirus.”
Ivana Karásková, Euronews“Beijing has used vaccine shipments to achieve political goals elsewhere, for example in Paraguay, where China has reportedly been pushing the government to switch recognition from Taiwan to China in return for vaccines.”
Filip Šebok, Emerging Europe“[Corrosive capital] typically originates from authoritarian regimes like China and Russia and exploits governance gaps to influence policymaking in recipient countries.”
Matej Šimalčík, Deutsche Welle“China looks forward to and watches the end of the German elections in September and the French presidential elections next year, as it considers the French-German axis to be a key factor in EU-China relations…However, enthusiasm for China in Europe has definitely waned.” “This only confirmed our assumptions that, in reality, China’s ability to retaliate against the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, especially those belonging to the EU, is very limited.”
Ivana Karásková, LRT Lithuania“The understanding in Lithuania is that the political and economic must be seen in context when dealing with non-democratic regimes, because in the end, non-democratic regimes are less predictable and business with them is more vulnerable.”
Ivana Karásková, Berlinsgske“Lithuania, which has a long-term negative historical experience with Russia and shares borders with Belarus, identifies with Taiwan and sees the cross-strait issue through the prism of its own historical experience with non-democratic regimes.”
Ivana Karásková, The Independent “[The deal was reached with Germany’s Deutsche Bank, France’s Société Générale and two US banks, Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs] should give Montenegro some breathing space, although the burden on public finances remain significant,”
Filip Šebok, Emerging Europe