EU stokes divisions by neglecting Balkans in vaccine rollout
Europe’s most volatile region looks to China and Russia after vaccine deliveries face delays
22 January 2021 - 09:16 Jasmina Kuzmanovic
Serbian President Aleksandar Vuci. Picture: GETTY IMAGES/BLOOMBERG/OLIVER BUNIC
The coronavirus exposed lingering divisions in the Balkans, and now Europe’s most volatile region is once again cleaving along geopolitical and ethnic lines over efforts to get people vaccinated.
The EU has pledged to give six prospective members €70m to buy Covid shots, but deliveries are facing delays. That has empowered Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to leverage his links with China and traditional ally Russia into pledging vaccine donations to North Macedonia and to the ethnic Serbs in Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina.