untitled design

Latvia and Estonia, after Lithuania, left the Eastern European Cooperation ’17+1′ with China

Latvia and Estonia followed Lithuania’s lead and abandoned the “16+1” platform of the Eastern European Partnership with China, which had been seen as a threat to the European Union’s unity in relations with the world’s second largest national economy.

The specific format was created in 2012 between Eastern European countries and China, in order for the latter to strengthen its ties with 16 Eastern European countries, while after Greece joined the initiative, the format became “17+1”.

Critics of the scheme saw the platform as an attempt by Beijing to take advantage of EU countries that felt sidelined by Brussels.

“Latvia will continue to desire constructive and pragmatic relations with China both bilaterally and through EU-China cooperation,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

Estonia issued an announcement with similar content, while a representative of the Ministry of Foreign officials told the Bloomberg agency that the country had no involvement in the initiative’s events since 2021 and that nothing extraordinary or special happened to force it to withdraw.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to an overhaul of several countries’ relations with China. But even before the invasion, there were moves to review relations with Beijing, mainly due to the increase in the trade deficit of European countries with the Asian country, but also the non-fulfillment of Chinese promises for billions of euros of investment in Eastern Europe.

Neither the presidents nor the prime ministers of the three countries had taken part in the last meeting of the platform, in 2021, sending other officials there.

Lithuania, which has been embroiled in a dispute with China after allowing Taiwan to open a representative office (quasi-embassy) in Vilnius, had withdrawn from the Initiative as early as last year, saying that promises of cooperation had not been fulfilled.

China had withdrawn its ambassador from Lithuania and imposed a de facto trade embargo on the country over the issue of Taiwan, which Beijing does not consider an independent country but a Chinese province.

The European Union appealed the matter to the World Trade Organization, alleging specific Chinese trade practices and against other European exporters.

Source: Capital

You may also like

Get the latest

Stay Informed: Get the Latest Updates and Insights

 

Most popular