Serbia’s coronavirus diplomacy unmasked

Importantly, the EU has been key in building up the capacity of the Serbian health sector in the past 20 years. It has donated €200 million and loaned €250 million to the sector, equipped hospitals in Serbia, and provided more than 250 emergency medical vehicles (122 of which included respiratory ventilators) to the country.

Without the EU, Serbia’s health system would be much less capable of handling the coronavirus outbreak in the first place. European assistance may be a bit slower than China’s, as it has to jump through more bureaucratic hoops, but it is sustainable.