Spymaster | Serbia
Will Serbia's intelligence chief "Father Gasic" stay or will he go?

Serbia
Rio Tinto is relying on its connections to get its way on Serbian lithium mining project

Mining giant Rio Tinto's Serbian subsidiary aims to push through its major lithium mining project in the country, despite its suspension by the government. It aims to use its long-standing political connections in Belgrade and Western capitals to get its way.

The Agencies' Gazette
CIA and Taliban, UK geospatial intel, Russian control centre in Ukraine, Serbian BIA

Appointments, reforms and key issues: every Monday, Intelligence Online serves up snippets of news, big and small, from the global intelligence community. This week we hone in on Doha, Baghdad, London and Moscow.

United States/AfghanistanIslamabad and Doha aid CIA-Taliban meeting.

United KingdomIntelligence issues in British space strategy.

RussiaIntelligence services at heart of new Ukraine coordination council.

SerbiaVucic blends geopolitics with internal security.

Israel, Serbia, Sweden
East and West battle for Serbia's mass surveillance software market

The Serbian government is engaged in a delicate balancing act, as it tries to combine state-of-the-art Swedish and American software systems with its already installed Chinese biometric surveillance systems. It is looking for Western technical support and financing to help it do this.

Spotlight | Europe, Russia
Baltic traders ensuring continued export of industrial equipment to Russia

While Lithuania's political class strongly condemns Moscow and is pushing for tough sanctions on the country, the Baltic state is still a hub for shipments of Western European machinery and electrical equipment to Russia. These exports are often camouflaged under a Kazakh flag.

Spotlight | Europe, Russia, Ukraine, United States
Under pressure from Kyiv and Washington, Moscow rows hard to keep its industries afloat

Besides their political function, Western sanctions against Moscow have taken on high stakes for security - both for NATO analysts seeking to assess the potential resilience of Russia's strategic industries and for Ukraine, which is keeping a close eye on Russia's emerging alternative trade routes.

China, Serbia
China gains ground in Serbia with new civil-military partnership model

Beijing's delivery of HQ-22 surface-to-air missiles to Serbia in early April fits in with part of a broader plan to attract non-NATO European countries its way.

China, Serbia
China's CCCC brings BRI from Belgrade into European Union

After more than ten years of negotiations, Chinese giant CCCC has been given the green light for the rail line between Serbia and Hungary, Europe's biggest Belt and Road Initiative project, in a deal finalised during the recent Olympic Games.

Europe, Russia, Serbia
Moscow, Brussels and Beijing battle for influence in Serbia

Slovenia's recent assumption of the rotating presidency of the European Union Council has revived the debate over Serbia's membership of the EU, involving an array of consultants, intelligence services, Serbian nationalist movements, and European political personalities.