While the Russo-Ukrainian War dominates attention in Eastern Europe, China is quietly expanding its influence in the region. As NATO strains under growing internal pressures and the European Union confronts unresolved questions about its future, Beijing’s capacity to project power in Europe in pursuit of its own interests is becoming an increasingly consequential force in the continent’s politics and economics.We asked five experts to identify China’s goals and assess its influence along a strategically important corridor in Eastern Europe, stretching from Hungary through Serbia and North Macedonia to Greece.Read more below.Ken Moriyasu Washington Correspondent, Nikkei AsiaIn 1946, Winston Churchill warned of an “Iron Curtain” descending across Europe, from Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic. Today, roughly 600 kilometers east of that line, China appears to be establishing a “Silk Curtain” through Hungary, Serbia, North Macedonia, and Greece.Stacked north to south on a map, these four countries form a continuous corridor on the periphery of Europe. From joint exercises with Serbia to Chinese company COSCO’s control of the Port of Piraeus, China is steadily entrenching itself along this belt. There are signs that the curtain is extending. Robert Fico, the prime minister of Slovakia, was the only head of government from an E.U. and NATO member state to attend China’s military parade in September 2025.China’s goal is not to divide Europe but rather to establish a stable of friendly states at a geostrategic location that gives China a presence near Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and, most importantly, the western flank of the 21st‑century “Great Game” in Eurasia.Ágnes Szunomár Associate Professor, Institute of Global Studies, Corvinus University of BudapestChina’s main goal in Hungary is not bilateral market access but structural integration into the E.U. economy through export-platform manufacturing. Electric vehicle and battery megaprojects turn Hungary into a production
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While the Russo-Ukrainian War dominates attention in Eastern Europe, China is quietly expanding its influence in the region. As NATO strains under growing internal pressures and the European Union confronts unresolved questions about its future, Beijing’s capacity to project power in Europe in pursuit of its own interests is becoming an increasingly consequential force in the continent’s politics and economics.We asked five experts to identify China’s goals and assess its influence along a strategically important corridor in Eastern Europe, stretching from Hungary through Serbia and North Macedonia to Greece.Read more below.Ken Moriyasu Washington Correspondent, Nikkei AsiaIn 1946, Winston Churchill warned
