In Geopolitics Today - Friday, June 10th
Germany Pressures Serbia to Join EU Sanctions Against Russia, US Announces Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity, Defence Ministers from the US and China Hold Face-to-Face Meeting
Germany Pressures Serbia to Join EU Sanctions Against Russia
German officials have demanded that Belgrade condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine and join the EU’s sanctions against Russia. After Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was prevented from visiting Serbia last week when nearby countries closed their airspace to his flight to Belgrade, the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has met with Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić to persuade Serbia to break with Russia.
Scholz has said that Serbia should join the EU’s sanctions against Moscow as a current membership candidate for the EU. Serbian President Aleksandar Vuvic appeared to rebuff pressure from Scholz on for Serbia to join European Union sanctions on Russia, stating that sanctions are “efficient.” Ever since the EU imposed its first sanctions, the Serbian government has been under pressure to join the measures. Serbia has been told that EU members and membership candidates must stand “shoulder to shoulder” over the war in Ukraine.
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US Announces Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity
US President Joe Biden has launched the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity (APEP) at the Summit of the Americas. The APEP is an economic framework that will focus on clean energy, supply chains, trade, investments and institutions. It hints at a strategy by the Biden administration to intensify efforts at increasing US economic competitiveness and promoting US values across Latin America.
The APEP revolves around a set of bilateral negotiations with governments in Latin America that will not require congressional approval, and will initially focus on countries with which the United States already has a free trade agreement. With the initiative, the US government will be working to facilitate economic investments in select countries in the region while also seeking to increased US engagement with civil society over “accountability, human rights, and the risks of pervasive surveillance technologies.” In the context of strategic competition with China, US firms will be able to undertake favourable infrastructure development projects abroad in a bid to outcompete China’s economic influence across Latin America.
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Defence Ministers from the US and China Hold Face-to-Face Meeting
The United States and China have held direct talks between top defence officials. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met Chinese Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe at the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore, marking the first meeting between Chinese and US defence ministers since January last year. Discussions are said to have included Taiwan, South China Sea, and the war in Ukraine.
During their meeting, both Austin and Wei stressed that stability in US-China relations is important. Nevertheless, differences have remained stark, and both sides remain firm on their respective views over US support for Taiwan. Lloyd Austin urged Beijing to refrain from destabilising actions, while Wei argued China would ‘fight at all costs’ to defend its sovereignty, and pledged that China’s “government and military” would “firmly smash” a potential US-endorsed independence plot in Taiwan. Following the meeting, both sides called for more communication after holding candid and constructive talks between military officials.
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