Primed Receptors: Synergies between Western Balkan Political Elites and Chinese Economic Actors and State Media

This article assesses the methods of China’s engagement in the Western Balkans, particularly in the media space – particularly the central position of the region’s entrenched political elites. China’s approach is similar to that of other illiberal geopolitical challengers, including the EU and wider West, which were effectively unchallenged until six years ago. This fact underscores the EU-led policy failure to date, amplified by the ongoing COVID 19 crisis, and suggests that Brussels’ current policy of countermeasures and competitive bidding will not only fail, but be counterproductive. The EU’s development of a civic constituency and institutionalized culture of accountability – implied with the acquis communautaire, but emphasized to date in favor of an elite-based and pacification-focused policy– would provide not only the greatest resilience to external authoritarian penetration, but also the highest likelihood of “clubbable” future member states.