is of optics and ask if he used can compete with china's investments in european royal projects. i've been as well. and thanks for joining us. more news next down the conflicts, crises, every single connection mapped out shows the geopolitical reality. the on the board is what makes things to the way they are mapped out, navigating a changing world. now on youtube. it's really couldn't be watched the nicest news. 12 single time here was put some sliced chicken of 3 current views, events in self titled videos,

challenging german wood. so explains quick and easy. short and sweet. found us on t w dot com, click on apply and social media. video news for learning german quotes from sliced the in serbia. the consequences of chinese influence in the balkans now clearer than ever a surge of violence falling. the dead's 15 people killed when a train station walls suddenly collapsed. that station just one part of a larger chinese project stretching across the balkans and deeper into europe. a series of real connections known as cord or 10 at the pathway for chinese exports with big showcase projects along the way, the more in the works. now europe is racing to keep

up pushing to complete a different route from albania, to the coast of the black sea, the growing priority at a time before the end, with consequences for the regions economy. the . we're taking a trip to see it firsthand 2 weeks across the balkans. the along the way, we'll look at how big rail projects are conducting a region as well as the bumps along the way. we'll see where things appear to be working quite a pleasant journey. and we'll look at where they threaten to break down the rail and the future of the balkans coming up to see just how divisive rail can become. we're heading north into neighboring

serbia along the path of cord or 10. again, that's the route coming from the chinese own port in greece. and already we see chinese containers moving up gradually from the south as we drive, it's a bell, great. chinese financing has stored in serbia over the past decade. experts say this non e u country is almost 4000000000 euros in debt to china for a population of less than 7000000 people. so why is china such a popular partner, deeper too much of an adult or the efficiency that comes between dealing with a chinese they want to have results fast because in addition to combining benefits, that's a transportation communication provides. it also provides an opportunity for political leaders to showcase themselves as a pro, as a provider. so if we cannot meet development, serbia is already bidding big on the future, build up of chinese goods coming out of greece,

like this newly renovated container terminal and build rate. but not everything is going according to plan. we're actually waiting on this tree down here to come and be offloaded. but one of the wagon slipped the track. the cargo director told us that while at the realm it doesn't happen here every day. it does point to a problem with the overall rail system in serbia. many of the tracks are still quite old and they desperately need refurbishment. other things are meanwhile being improved. this is bill grades, new central train station. it opens in 2023. in this case with credit from to wait . and it's the departure point for the 1st stretch of the country's new high speed rail like the 1st leg from build rate. and nobody saw opened in 2022 2nd stretch to the city of supports at the board with hungry was due to open in late 2024 hour tickets from billed rates. and nobody saw it costs us about $6.00

heroes each. the journey is roughly 30 minutes. my car, it's more than an hour a. this is a showcase project for china and part of its belt and road initiative. it's massive effort to build up infrastructure around the world. china has built almost 30000 miles of highs be trained at home and wants to show it can do it in europe. we're traveling about 200 kilometers an hour right now. the train is decently filled for a tuesday morning and it's quite a pleasant journey. but there's already a dark spot on this still young rail line and it's here at no be side where a wall at the recently refurbished train station suddenly collapsed. it's unclear who exactly was responsible. a chinese construction firm was in charge of the project. the local firms were also involved, the 15 people were killed. among them,

children behind me is where this accident happened. you can see part of the facade ripped away with essentially a concrete overhang, suddenly gave way and crashed down onto the people waiting below. many of them simply waiting for the city bus to come by the after the shot came to the questions. and when the answers didn't come, then there was anger. the protesters have marched through the streets of nobody saw it and build rate. students have stop going to classes and block traffic all are demanding resignations, all pushing for more accountability. protests or say the government has blood on his hands. the secret contracts around the station work have left even the most basic questions on answered the

answer to this is up to mountains. you put the money on this list. if you go to some of them, sign the document and this will be the, this pay almost the people that are on the well that i'm just looking at the document. the protests of only grown and recent months, tapping into a larger frustration with the lack of transparency and the heavy handedness of the government are present. alexander approaches. alexis under voltage. yeah, he's good argue who? because of most of the night she was big sports quite stock. ok. saga said guy, go up with thank you know a sell out. who said all the process, it is a fee not what i was. you know what i'm state most beautiful. yeah. for the movie i do, we ask the serbian government for comments, but received no response. the protests have become so widespread that the government pushed back the opening of the final stretch of high speed rail. what was supposed to be a political win is instead of liability we're driving now in hungry where they're

still working on their section of that high speed rail line coming from build rate . and what we talked about in serbia with the relationship to china and chinese investment, the same applies here in hungry is not even more so. in fact, you can see that hungry really set the standard for its relationship with chinese. one second is just across the serbian border, it's one of 100 largest cities, and it's an industrial center. the country's politics are already visible here, and so i get the message of this billboard is obvious. hungry is on the way up. that's the government view, at least. meanwhile, the e u of which hungry is a member, has become a target like and this was also the funded line. it's alex soros. that's the son of finance here at george soros. but the hon. gary and economy is actually struggling

in budapest, so at odds with brussels, that it's now receiving less the funding, which makes it more aligned on other sources. last year, budapest quietly took out a 1000000000 euro loan from china, henry's largest ever foreign credit. and it's become more alliance on investments like this one chinese car, baker, b y, d we head out to the construction side and a mass of field outside 2nd and run into some difficulties of the finally, we make it be why do use 300 hector mega project just across the way, it should pop out 200000 electric cars annually. once completed. that means the company will be able to get around new european import tools on chinese electric vehicles. electric cars out of china are a controversial topic in the u,

but here and hungry, they fit perfectly to the strategy political strategy. as to the economic strategy, the victor autobahn and his allies have developed here for quite some time. if you think china's new high speed line runs through 2nd, however, you'd be mistaken. instead it runs in a straight line from a serbian border more direct route that locals assume was preferred by chinese planners. this is the largest city on the line before budapest gonzales, population 26000 local say they're pleased to be receiving a renovated train station is that they have? no. it's that they have that made them the you actually disperses funds to help regents like this one in member countries such as hungry. but again, that's money. the brussels is now holding back. what exactly the

country is supposed to get out of its mass of frail project isn't clear. even from here, the capital budapest, most domestic media don't get into the costs of the project versus its benefits. and that's why we're meeting up with an independent journalist, blankets, all the works for a fact checking portal that's been looking into the details around the project. and to exactly benefits from the new line. we are relying on, on experts the on, uh, on chinese relations, for example, economic experts, journalists were trying to, to calculate the rate of return on investment. what we need to know is that according to to the optimistic calculations, the return on investment can be expected at like 130 years. but they're even like more pessimistic calculations taking that it would take 2000 years to actually have a return on investment. a container terminal in budapest,

the final stop from greece and a spring board deeper into europe. china is only deepening its role in hungary. meanwhile, just recently has extend rail and a chinese construction firm announced a new terminal on a port in the daniel and this is where our story also comes to an end for our journey. this is the end of the lot, but we've seen a lot over the past 2 weeks. the europe in china are in a fight for influence across the balkans and didn't hungry. and that competition is visible into major rail projects. we've seen that in albania, in north macedonia rail represents a greater connection to the you, but also to european markets. chinese support is meanwhile important in hungry and serbia. recover, mints are eager to set themselves apart from the e. u. but when something goes wrong, as it has in serbia, the same projects can embody the broader frustrations of

a corruption and lack of transparency in both those countries as well, our journey is here, the story continues. how will these major real projects continue to influence a region like this? and the direction that it takes? will the e u and china continue to battle for spheres of influence in the balkans and in countries like hungry? it's something that will continue to watch and continue to show you guys. thanks for watching the the, from refugee to employee in 2014. he'd fled from the war in syria.

today he owns a successful small business. like many refugees, the suddenly dial has built in life in germany without relying on the stay full financial support. but now it's not clear adobe now today, made in germany next on d, w. re compromised. right, so i take that opportunity to upgrade your cation of words in 2024, ask um women, step down with a ton of on demand bets are right. sort of women of us scanners, the sharp edge of peace in 45 minutes on the double you

we are all set with what seemed close to him to bring you the story behind the news. we rolled about unbiased information all 3 months. the, the russian invasion of ukraine has clearly exposed one thing, europe's vulnerability on the military front. up to now ukraine has mainly been dependent on arm supplies from the u. s. president donald trump, however, once to reduce support for keys and just demanding that europe step up, the continents arms industry has long been neglected. it also offers economic opportunities. what's the situation in germany? a contentious issue that we will be taking a closer look at in the show.