Ante Ivkovic herded sheep in Bosnia-Herzegovina with his father as a child. Years later, without his consent or knowledge, he says, a wind farm was built on his property by a Chinese company.
The Chinese wind farm company, headquartered in the capital Sarajevo, declined to comment on camera. In an email, they stated they relied on Bosnian documents that confirmed the concession’s legality and claimed there were no unresolved ownership issues.
Ivkovic, with the help of his lawyer, is pursuing legal action to prove his ownership. His lawyer is gathering evidence from archives to build the case.
[…]
Chinese wind energy companies have been aggressively expanding into the European market, undercutting European competitors by significant margins, thanks to state subsidies. This is evident not only in Bosnia, but also in neighboring Croatia.
[…]
The EU has taken notice. Under Ursula von der Leyen’s leadership, the EU is scrutinizing Chinese wind farms, investigating whether state subsidies are giving them an unfair advantage over European competitors. Lobbyists warn that with every new wind farm, China tightens its grip on Europe’s energy supply.
“On a modern wind turbine there are around 300 sensors on the different components of the turbine, which are giving information to the wind farm owner and operator, and to the turbine manufacturer about the performance. And many people in Europe are saying, ‘do we want to give that power to entities outside of Europe to control the functioning of wind turbines?’,” says Giles Dickson, the CEO of WindEurope.
[…]
Will a retiree be able to assert his rights against a 160-million-euro project? This case will help determine how much property rights are worth in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
I acknowledge that capitalism is an inherently evil system designed to extract all value from an object, I do not recognize that’s what makes the world go round.
And I’m not saying to close the borders and prevent all foreign trade. But I’m staunchly against any land purchases by foreign entities. China has already shown it’s hand in how it handles international disputes about its purchased land, we’ve seen how they behave in Africa, along the Indian border, their investment and meddling in the housing markets of Australia. You want Lithuania or Poland or Uzbekistan to have some business deals, sure, with regulation have at it. But keep China’s land grabs and the US’s military bases within their borders.