One of the largest German newspapers, Franfurter Alegemeine Zeitung (FAZ), published an article on Wednesday about Serbian President, Aleksandar Vucic. Although he has done well in terms of the country’s economy during the Covid pandemic, FAZ said, "he will have to choose to side with either the European Union or Russia" in light of the ongoing war in Ukraine.

The daily said that Vucic is expected to win next Sunday’s elections both as president and leader of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) because the economy is prospering. It said that two thirds of the money invested in the Western Balkans goes to Serbia with the European Union playing a major role since more than 70 percent of almost 3,000 foreign companies operating in Serbia are from the EU. It added that the biggest investors are Germany, the US, Austria and France with Russia and China accounting for just five percent of all foreign investments in the country.

FAZ cited a report by the German foreign trade organization GTAI which said that Vucic expanded relations with Russia and China with China especially active in digitalization. “The list of Chinese construction projects in Serbia is the longest and most serious in Europe,” it said. According to the daily, Russia is present in the Serbian gas and oil industry with the country being hugely dependent on Russian supplies which could be why Belgrade has not imposed sanctions on Moscow and why the pro-regime media keep repeating the Kremlin’s war propaganda.