The first high-speed train has officially rolled into the refurbished Belgrade Centre station from Novi Sad, marking the completion of the Serbian leg of the ambitious Belgrade-Budapest railway. This engineering marvel, capable of speeds up to 200 km/h, is more than just a transport link; it is the "iron backbone" of the 15th Five-Year Plan for China-Serbia cooperation, which President Aleksandar Vučić has declared will pivot towards Artificial Intelligence and the digital economy.

The project, a flagship of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Europe, slashes travel time between the two capitals from eight hours to under three. But for analysts, the steel rails are merely the hardware; the software is the deepening geopolitical alignment between Belgrade and Beijing at a time when the rest of Europe is looking inward.

The "Ironclad Friendship"

"This railway is proof that our friendship is not just words on paper, but steel on the ground," President Vučić stated during the inauguration ceremony, flanked by Chinese diplomats and engineers. "We are now moving to the next phase: the age of intelligence."

The new cooperation framework for 2026-2030 outlines bold priorities:

• AI and Smart Cities: Huawei and Serbian tech firms will collaborate to turn Belgrade into a regional hub for data processing and smart traffic management.
• Green Energy: Chinese investment will flow into massive solar parks and EV battery manufacturing in Serbia, positioning the Balkan nation as a green energy exporter.
• Biotech and Health: Building on the cooperation seen during the pandemic, the two nations will establish joint research centers for biotechnology.

Europe's Gateway or Trojan Horse?

Brussels has watched these developments with a mixture of envy and anxiety. While the EU struggles with bureaucratic hurdles in infrastructure funding, Chinese state-owned enterprises have delivered a functioning high-speed rail line on European soil. Critics argue that Serbia is becoming a "Trojan horse" for Chinese influence in Europe, debt-trapping itself in the process.

However, for the average Serbian commuter now zipping between cities in comfort, these geopolitical concerns are abstract. "The train is here, it is fast, and it works," said Marko Djurić, a passenger on the inaugural ride. "If the West wanted to build it, they had 30 years. China did it in five." As the train departs for the Hungarian border, it carries with it the undeniable reality of a shifting global order.