PODGORICA, Montenegro The section of highway that threatens to cripple Montenegro’s economy begins in the foothills outside the capital Podgorica, where scaffolding lines a multi-lane expressway closed off to the public. The highway ends, for now, in the remote mountainous terrain east of the city.
The Chinese state-owned company hasn’t finished construction yet, so cars are using the old road underneath it. The highway hasn’t been paid for yet, either. The first installment of the $1 billion loan from a Chinese state bank is due in July, and it’s unclear whether Montenegro, whose debt has climbed to more than a 100% of its gross domestic product due to this project, will be able to afford it. What’s worse, says the country’s former Justice Minister Dragan Soc, once completed, the road won’t lead anywhere anyway. “We make a joke: It is a highway from nothing to nothing,” he says.
Montenegro Getting European Help To Refinance Its Massive China Debt theusnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theusnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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.
Европа и Китай се сблъскват на балканската магистрала към нищото dnevnik.bg - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dnevnik.bg Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.