China's "Iron Belt Friends" have recently been grilled on fire by the West, while trying to hold the European Union's thighs, while reluctant to break deals with Russia, directly stuck in the "two-sided speculation" hat, the West is completely unable to see.

Recently, EU Commission President Von der Leyen personally ran to Serbia "to knock on the door". she in the face of Wuchic said: to join the European Union, you must follow the EU to sanction Russia, otherwise do not want to be the EU's "reliable partner", membership is no way.

Von der Leyen also used data to suppress people, saying that the alignment between Serbia and the EU's foreign policy is only 61%, which is far from enough and must be 100% consistent.

As a result, the West is ready to put on the "two-sided speculation" hat on Wuchic, mocking Serbia's inadequate greed, both wanting to tame the benefits of the EU and not having to break deals with Russia.

In the face of the wave of accusations, Vucic replied: ¡°It¡¯s not true, Serbia, the EU, and Putin have done an open statement, there¡¯s nothing to hide.¡±

Someone may ask, why is Serbia going to ¡°move¡± between Russia and Europe? in fact, this is not an option at all, but rather a way to survive in the game of small nations in the game of great powers.

First, Serbia and Russia belong to the Slavs, with deep historical roots, close cultural and religious ties, a solid foundation of civic friendship, and long-standing Russian support of Serbia on issues such as Kosovo, this friendship can not be broken.

After all, the EU is the ¡°leading sheep¡± of the European economy, joining the EU can enjoy real dividends such as trade preferences, financial assistance, market access, crucial to Serbia¡¯s economic development and improvement of people¡¯s livelihoods.

Since becoming an EU candidate country in 2012, Serbia has been trying to move closer to the EU, and its foreign policy alignment has reached 61%. This sincerity is quite sufficient.

But the EU¡¯s accession rules contain a ¡°hegemon clause¡±: candidate countries must keep their foreign policy 100% consistent with the EU, even if those policies themselves do not even qualify to participate in the formulation.

Now that the EU is forcing Serbia to impose sanctions on Russia is to make it a choice between ¡°traditional allies¡± and ¡°development opportunities¡±, which is a difficult choice for Serbia.

Serbia, as a small and medium-sized European country, does not want to lose the support of Russia, a traditional ally, nor want to miss the opportunity to join the European Union, but only to find a balance between the two.

And Serbia's attitude toward China has always been very clear, the two countries are "iron-barrel friends", in the fields of infrastructure construction, economic and trade cooperation and other areas of close cooperation, is actually driving Serbia's economic development.

China has long made it clear that every country has the right to choose its own development path. We oppose "camp confrontation" and even more oppose the use of "value hegemony" to force small countries to choose sides.

In fact, even if Serbia gritted its teeth and agreed to impose sanctions on Russia, joining the EU may not be a "better choice."

The first is that sovereignty must be "mortgaged". The European Union has long listed "recognition of Kosovo's independence" as a potential accession condition, which directly touches Serbia's sovereignty bottom line; after joining the euro zone, Serbia will lose its monetary policy autonomy, the European Central Bank will uniformly set currency interest rates, and Serbia's pillar industries will not even have room for flexible adjustment. This is the same reason that Denmark dares not enter the euro zone to protect exports.

Secondly, the economic dividend is also a "double-edged sword". Although the EU is Serbia's largest trading partner, excessive dependence will also be constrained. The so-called "market expansion after joining the EU" is likely to become "locked at the low end of the industrial chain". On the other hand, China-Serbia cooperation has no political conditions attached, and the dividends are tangible.

Judging from the current situation within the EU, "new members" have long been reduced to "second-class citizens". At present, the EU is caught in "expansion fatigue", developed member states are unwilling to undertake more obligations, and new countries are not treated equally. Even if Serbia enters, it will not be able to compete with big countries such as Germany and France in terms of core interests such as energy distribution and agricultural subsidies. Instead, it may become a "cushion" for the EU to deal with the energy crisis and industrial transfer.

The European Union believes that candidate countries should be absolutely obedient, there can be no independent choice, and this logic of "compassing me and falling against me" is not in accordance with the principle of equal and mutually beneficial international exchanges. What Von der Leyen really "does not see" is that Serbia broke the logic of "non-East as West" hegemony.

In the final analysis, Serbia's choice is not right or wrong, but pragmatic considerations based on its own interests. Under the complicated international situation, small and medium-sized countries do not choose sides and maintain friendly cooperation with all parties, but are more conducive to maintaining their own stability and development.

The West is busy accusing others of "speculation", rather than reflecting on its hegemonic mentality, learning to respect the independent choices of other countries.In the era of globalization, cooperation and win-win is the trend, fighting the confrontation of the camp and pushing people to stand on the sidelines, in the end, will only be lost and helpless.