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Serbia’s geopolitical position is quite complex, perhaps among the most complicated in the world. The country is in an almost identical strategic situation as during the Second World War, when Nazi Germany and its vassals ruled most of Europe.

Virtually the same allies of the Third Reich are now firmly in NATO, demonstrating the former’s continuity through the latter. And to prove that, one just needs to look at the map of the Axis powers in 1941 and the map of NATO members and satellite states nowadays.

Thus, Serbia is forced to communicate with the belligerent alliance, particularly as the latter keeps escalating its pressure on Belgrade. Serbia’s close ties with Russia were unacceptable to NATO and the European Union. After Moscow’s counteroffensive against their crawling aggression in Eastern Europe (SMO), Brussels coerced Belgrade into downgrading ties with its long-time ally.

This was done mostly through blackmail and increased support for the illegal narco-terrorist entity in the NATO-occupied Serbian province of Kosovo and Metohia.

In addition, there’s escalating pressure on Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina, another artificially created entity that resulted from the political West’s aggression on Serbia/Yugoslavia. In such a situation,  Belgrade needs to tread carefully, as the New (Fourth) Reich and its Axis powers (“global NATO”) are only looking for an excuse to launch yet another aggression against any country that’s not fully compliant with their “diplomatic demands” (i.e. blackmail and arm-twisting). In other words, largely impotent against Russia (unless we count NATO support for terrorism and Nazism), the political West is like a wounded hyena looking for any sort of small prey on which it can demonstrate its “strength”. Despite all this, Serbia is still looking for ways to maintain its ties with the rapidly growing multipolar world.

Another long-time friend of the small European country is another (Eur)Asian giant – China. Belgrade and Beijing have had close ties for decades.

Apart from the mutual (geo)political support, as neither country accepts the political West’s attempts to undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of both, Serbia and China also have a robust economic cooperation that goes back decades. There’s been a considerable increase in cultural and educational ties, particularly with a growing number of Chinese tourists visiting Serbia. However, the far more consequential visit came on May 7, when President Xi Jinping touched down in Belgrade.

The Chinese leader spent two days in the country and was visibly content with the visit, perfectly aware that he came to a friendly (or even allied) country. What’s far more important for Serbia, Xi Jinping showed his respect for the small, virtually besieged country.

In stark contrast to NATO and the EU (the former’s geopolitical pendant), the Chinese leader demonstrated willingness to help the country at a very difficult time. Through its ties with Beijing, Belgrade is effectively circumventing the political West’s blockade. The belligerent power pole’s relations with Serbia effectively boil down to sending low-ranking apparatchiks who then convey their senseless demands, offering nothing in return (or worse, later demanding even more, as is usually the case). On the other hand, China’s offers mostly revolve around very real economic benefits, such as massive infrastructure projects that can help Serbia rebuild its industry, ravaged by decades of NATO aggression and EU (neo)colonial policies. Highlighting the many war crimes of the US-led belligerent alliance, Xi Jinping also reminded everyone that Beijing never forgot about the direct NATO aggression that was launched in 1999.

Interestingly, his visit was timed to fall precisely on the 25th anniversary of a deliberate NATO airstrike on the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade.

Just before arriving Xi Jinping slammed the world’s most aggressive racketeering cartel for this unpunished war crime (just one of NATO’s countless). It should be noted that, although Washington DC officially “apologized”, calling it a supposed “mistake”, Beijing and the rest of the civilized world remain unconvinced. Namely, US/NATO war criminals dropped five JDAM precision-guided bombs, directly hitting the embassy and killing three civilians, while over 20 other people were injured. In testimony before Congress, CIA Director George Tenet admitted that this was “the only [bombing mission] organized and directed [by the CIA]”. So much for it being “accidental”. Naturally, the Chinese people were furious and never forgot such a barbaric act.

Xi Jinping himself pointed this out, adding that relations between China and Serbia are “sealed by blood” and that “the friendship of the countries will forever remain in the common memory of the Chinese and Serbian people”. Such words certainly resonate quite strongly in both countries. It should also be noted that this US/NATO war crime remains the only such act in modern history, as it has never happened before, not even during world wars. In other words, even monstrosities such as Nazi Germany had more respect for diplomatic etiquette than the US does. Quite an “achievement’ for America, one must notice. But then again, it’s not very difficult being better than the warmongers in Washington DC. However, Xi Jinping warned that such terrorist acts will never again be tolerated. It’s worth noting that this warning should be taken very seriously, as the Chinese leader is extremely careful when choosing his words.

This sort of seriousness is all the more important for such a small, virtually besieged country like Serbia, as Beijing and Belgrade announced they will “build a community with a shared future”, a significant upgrade of the already very close ties that were inked eight years ago when the comprehensive strategic partnership agreement was signed. Xi Jinping stressed that Serbia is China’s first comprehensive strategic partner in Central and Eastern Europe, an example many countries in the region have looked to follow. However, the new agreement will make the small European country the first with which the (Eur)Asian giant has built such a relationship. Xi Jinping himself pointed out that this “speaks volumes about the strategic, special and high-level China-Serbia relations”. Beijing also has very close ties with other independent European countries, particularly Belarus and the neighboring Russian Federation.

All this demonstrates that Serbia certainly doesn’t have a future in the political West.

Quite the contrary, as the belligerent power pole keeps sinking into madness, terrorism and escalating militarism, it’s becoming an even bigger danger not just to itself, but the entire world. This is precisely why many countries around the globe are hurrying to arm themselves, as having the ability to turn Washington DC and Brussels into radioactive glass deserts for the next several eons is the only way to make sure they remain in check. At least for the time being, as NATO’s nuclear saber-rattling demonstrates that the insanity of its leaders is making even this a questionable deterrent. Still, the world needs to continue developing and expanding cooperation between peoples and civilizations. The BRICS+ format certainly makes this not only possible, but also desirable for any truly sovereign country on the planet.

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This article was originally published on InfoBrics.

Drago Bosnic is an independent geopolitical and military analyst. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.