China Deepens Its Balkans Ties Using Serbian Universities
May 11, 2021 11:41 GMT
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BELGRADE With a Chinese university project in Hungary drawing controversy over a lack of transparency and concerns about academic freedom, Beijing s influence in higher education in neighboring Serbia continues to grow.
A strategic agreement signed between Hungary and Shanghai s prestigious Fudan University in April made international headlines and sparked a backlash at home.
The decision to build a Budapest campus by 2024 using a $1.5 billion loan from a Chinese bank put a spotlight on Prime Minister Viktor Orban s close ties to Beijing and raised concerns about the long-term impact of such a project on the country s higher-education system.
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Serbia continues to reverberate with outrage and sympathy for young women who have come forward this month alleging they were raped as students by a veteran director at his private drama school, setting off an avalanche of #MeToo accounts that challenge Serbian society to fix a broken system.
The torrent came after a rising star of international cinema publicly accused the storied mentor and founder of the Stvar Srca acting studio, Miroslav Mika Aleksic, of repeatedly raping her beginning nine years ago, when she was 17.
For decades, the 68-year-old Aleksic has worked and hobnobbed with many of Serbia s biggest celebrities.