Europe

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Europe community on dbzer0. Intended to be a place to discuss European news, politics, or just general topics from a European perspective. Since this is on dbzer0 expect the community to lean more leftist-anarchist but a wide range of views are accepted here (within reason).

Rules:

1. No Bigotry or Hate Speech

Any forms of Homophobia, Transphobia, Queerphobia, Racism, or Ableism will be met with swift and harsh action and will not be tolerated here whatsoever. Bigots will be banned immediately on-sight. This includes apologia of it. Trying to be politely or intellectually bigoted i.e. "Just asking questions" won't be tolerated.

2. No Zionism

Any forms of Zionism or Zionist rhetoric will not be tolerated here, this includes Zionist apologia, accusations of antisemitism towards anti-Zionists, or blatant denial or downplaying of the genocide towards Palestinians. Any attempt to uphold or prop up the IHRA definition of antisemitism, will be treated as Zionism. Anyone engaging in Pro-Zionist sentiment or apologia will be actioned in accordance with its severity.

Note: Trying to find loopholes or whataboutery to see what is or isn't genocide denial or Zionism will be treated as a violation of this rule. Don't test us.

3. Stay Civil

Please maintain civil discourse in the community. Do not engage in arguments with others, name-calling, or insults. Note that calling out bigotry or Zionism is not considered an insult. In heated arguments users are encouraged to or even required to disengage failure to do so will result in mod action.

4. No Misinformation

Spreading of misinformation intentionally in this community is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Spreading misinformation hurts the credibility of the community and can mislead people sometimes in dangerous ways. Users who intentionally post misinformation as articles, comment answers, or in attempt to win arguments will be actioned swiftly.

Note: This includes Russian and Chinese propaganda. Users with a history of such posting will be banned on sight.

5. No AI Content

Please do not post articles or content primarily created using generative AI. Generative AI content may contain misinformation or be lower quality and thus is discouraged. Posts and comments featuring it will be removed. However this community does not allow or tolerate Anti-AI trolling or hostility and users who engage in such behavior will be actioned for it, additionally Anti-AI trolling violates Rule 3 and often Rule 4 so it is generally unacceptable already.

Note: Rules 1 & 2 may be subject to preemptive mod action due to their severity, and they apply to a user's entire post history. Not just this community.

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Tragedies don't stop dubious cooperation: Serbia deepens public debt, China takes the profit (www.gazetaexpress.com)

submitted 1 week ago by randomname@scribe.disroot.org to c/europe@lemmy.dbzer0.com

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cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/3758390

Archived version

The recent collapse of a canopy at the Novi Sad railway station, built by a Chinese company, has once again raised important questions about how Serbia cooperates with China on infrastructure projects. The incident, which claimed 16 lives, is not just a technical or engineering issue – it is a symptom of a much deeper and contentious relationship between the two countries.

...

The model of cooperation is almost always the same: Chinese state-owned banks provide “favorable” loans to the Serbian government. These loans finance large infrastructure projects, but the work is carried out exclusively by Chinese companies – without public tenders, without competition, and often without independent control over the cost or quality of the works.

In practice, this means that money from Serbia's budget ends up in the accounts of Chinese companies, while the debt remains at the expense of the state and its citizens. Some of these projects are even overpaid and have minimal involvement of local businesses or workers.

...

One of the most problematic points of these agreements is the lack of transparency. The terms of Chinese loans are often unknown to the public. There are no public tenders, no independent control over costs and in many cases, there is no accountability for the quality of the works. The collapse of the canopy at the Resnik station [in Novi Sad] is a concrete indicator of this problem.

This approach ... risks Serbia losing control over the construction of its strategic infrastructure.

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