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QUESTION: Thank you for the opportunity. Hi there. I wanted to ask about President Xi’s visit to Serbia, also of course Hungary tomorrow, and then we expect he could be meeting President Vladimir Putin, so Orbán-Vučić-Putin. Do you think his agenda in the Western Balkans is benign, or could we fear that he is trying to build some kind of new axis of friends in the region that will actually stand against greater European integration?
MR ESCOBAR: Well, Andrew, I think – I think your analysis is pretty accurate. I do think that the countries that he has chosen are those that are open to challenging the unity of the Euro-Atlantic community. And so we caution all of our partners and all of our interlocutors to be very aware of China’s agenda in Europe and China’s agenda with regard to the Euro-Atlantic community. But it’s a very good question.
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QUESTION: (Inaudible) ask you about your future. I know you cannot reveal your next appointment, but can you please tell us if it’s going to be related to the Balkan region? And secondly, I wanted to go back to the visit of Chinese president to Serbia. They signed a statement on a joint future, and also the timing of the visit that coincides with the anniversary of the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade. If you can comment on that in a little more detail. Thank you.
MR ESCOBAR: Yes. I apologize, but we had trouble hearing you, but I will answer the second question. I do think that the – that the visit was timed to increase tensions between Serbia and the rest of the Western community, and it’s unhelpful. We – the United States has said that that, the bombing of the Chinese embassy in 1999, was an accident. We’ve apologized. I believe we’ve actually even paid reparations to the families. But – and I do believe that the timing of the visit was unfortunate but deliberate.
On the question of my transition, the department doesn’t have – has already said that they have no personnel announcements to make at this point, but at a certain point my next assignment and the replacement for my job here will be announced. But I do hope that you will have the same level of contact and communication with my successor as you’ve had with me. I’ve really appreciated all of the interactions that I’ve had with the international press on the Balkans.
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Source: U.S. Department of State
Speaker: Gabriel Escobar, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs
Format: Digital Press Briefing
China Policy Research 