In a discussion moderated by Vessela Tcherneva, Deputy Director of the European Council on Foreign Relations, panelists examined the modernisation of green technology, its implications for Central and Eastern Europe, and the role China plays in the global clean-tech landscape.

Participants agreed that Europe – and especially the CEE region – urgently needs more investment, more realistic planning, and faster implementation of green technologies.

Julian Popov, former Minister of Environment and Waters of Bulgaria, emphasised the need to identify common ground between phasing out fossil fuels, increasing defence budgets, and maintaining the competitiveness of EU industries. “If we put these together and look at them separately,” Popov argued, “the budget does not work – we are running a ten per cent budget deficit, high inflation – it does not work.” He highlighted recent EU-level action, noting that “a few weeks ago, the European Council, supported by the European Parliament, agreed on an interim target to lower emissions.” Everything else, he suggested, is secondary. Popov envisioned a future in which China leads in innovation while Europe becomes a key assembly hub, supported by Chinese firms and factories.

Alicja Bachulska, Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, warned that if the EU continues to approach China as it currently does, “we’ll end up an assembly line for Chinese products.” Focusing on Eastern Europe – and Poland in particular – she noted that expectations of creating a level playing field with China have not materialised. “China has been very reluctant to treat partners as equals,” she explained. Bachulska also criticised European complacency, pointing out that China’s five-year plans and official strategies have long been publicly available, yet “Europeans have failed to read or acknowledge these documents,” leading to “a lot of wishful thinking.” Europe, she concluded, must “diversify our partnerships” and “develop technologies that bypass China.”

Vuk Vuksanović, Senior Researcher at the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy, offered a broader geopolitical perspective. In order to challenge the EU, he argued, China concluded that it needed to “make a footprint in the Balkans.” According to Vuksanović, this strategy provides Beijing with three key advantages: access to natural resources, access to the EU market, and relationships with corrupt local officials. He also pointed to a new wave of Serbian environmentalism following the Novi Sad canopy tragedy – “one of the rare issues that united both the political left and the political right.” Finally, Vuksanović warned that Chinese and Russian influence in Serbia will not disappear even if President Vučić leaves power.