“The reasoning in Lithuania is that political and economic matters should be considered together when dealing with nondemocratic regimes because in the end the nondemocratic regimes are less predictable and business with them is more vulnerable.”
Ivana Karásková, Nikkei Asia“Until last year, the Slovak government did not have much willingness to increase the level of interaction with Taiwan to the political level, because the government at that time was more focused on developing the relationship with Beijing.”
Matej Šimalčík, Deutsche WelleThe example of Slovakia shows that the [Confucius Instititute’s] fight with critics is sometimes very sharp
Matej Šimalčík, China Table“If European institutions step in and save Montenegro, it may actually motivate other countries in the region to take Chinese loans. They will see that Europe can take the risk.”
Filip Šebok, Global Markets“The annual budget is higher than the total expenditure of all Hungarian universities put together, so Fudan can entice the best students and professors from the entire region.”
Tamás Matura, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung“Fudan has brought the topic of relations with China to the forefront of politics.”
Tamás Matura, Euronews“A couple of years ago, Taiwan was not seen as one of the major players in either the European Asia strategy nor countries’ [individual] strategies. This has obviously changed due to the developments in Hong Kong, Xinjiang, the coronavirus pandemic, and the US administration focus on the island.”
Ivana Karásková, Al-Jazeera“[Orban] takes one step to the right, one step back, and tries to rattle his beautiful feathers to please everyone.”
Tamás Matura, South China Morning Post“In the framework of Orban’s battle with the EU, he needs a big brother like China.”
Tamás Matura, Radio Free Europe“If the EU plays it right, on the other hand, it can build an image as a savior in need in a region where it is met with a lot of skepticism. And she now has a specific example to point to that Chinese financial aid doesn’t necessarily have to be a good solution. So far it has been more of an abstract scenario. ”
Matej Šimalčík, Capital.de“I think the key lesson about Confucius Institutes here is that their public activities may seem normal to outsiders, but through such activities, we see that they are willing to safeguard China’s interests and use this to focus on key topics in their eyes. Implement self-censorship. Now may be a good time for all institutions that cooperate with Confucius Institutes to reassess their relationship and examine how it affects academic freedom.”
Matej Šimalčík, Deutsche Welle“It was not until March 2021 that clear evidence of the involvement of the Russian intelligence service, the GRU, emerged. New information 100% proves the intervention of the Russian side.”
Pavel Havlíček, Kanal 24