"Vucic stole the vaccine-diplomacy show"

It is explained how President Vui came to the center of attention in a specific "vaccine diplomacy".
Eleven days after COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic, TV audiences in Serbia were treated to an extraordinary sight.
The country's president, Aleksandar Vui, kissed the Chinese national flag as medical equipment, personal protective equipment (PPE), and Chinese medical staff landed in Belgrade on March 22, 2020. Overnight, billboards sprang up across the Serbian capital featuring China's president and the caption "Thank you, brother Xi", Atlantic Council writes.
What appeared to be a prime example of Chinese COVID-19 diplomacy was built on thriving economic and diplomatic ties between Beijing and Belgrade. After the medical transport, China funded a network of laboratories to carry out coronavirus tests.
In mid-January another plane delivered a batch of one million doses of China's Sinopharm vaccine. Vui turned up at the airport again to welcome Chinese vaccines.
Half a year later, the narrative has changed, as Atlantic Council writes.
It is no longer about China boxing out the West in the Balkans but Serbia's ability to punch above its weight. Serbian authorities have made impressive headway in inoculating their citizens - and using vaccines as "a diplomatic tool".

EPA-EFE/ANDREJ CUKIC

In a country with a population of just over seven million, 5.15 million doses have been administered. More than 2.4 million people - over one-third of Serbian citizens - have received two jabs. Serbia has donated vaccines to neighbors such as Montenegro, North Macedonia, Republika Srpska and Bosnia and Herzegovina. People from neighboring countries have been able to register and get jabs while visiting Serbia.
In short, Belgrade...