Abacus | China’s sinister plan to buy Eastern Europe is exaggerated

The railway which winds its way from Piraeus and Athens northwards to Thessaloniki and on towards Macedonia has a certain antiquated charm. Passing Thermopylae off to the north and Mount Parnassus away to the south, passengers can reflect that they are trundling slowly through the very heart of Western civilisation’s cultural cradle.

There is more recent history too. Rattling across the spectacular Gorgopotamos viaduct, passengers can clearly see where in 1942 the vital supply route was blown up at its most inaccessible point by a ragtag band of Greek partisans and British agents. Travellers of a nervous disposition may not wish to look too closely, however. Some three-quarters of a century later, the repairs effected after the war still look alarmingly temporary.

Now, if you believe the hype, history is once again knocking. It may surprise passengers snoozing their way north towards Mount Olympus, but the railway line along which they are sedately swaying is a key link in a grand strategic infrastructure initiative known as the China-Europe Land-Maritime Intermodal Express Route.

The idea is to create a freight transport corridor that links the Chinese-operated container port at Piraeus on the Mediterranean with the investment-hungry countries of central Europe. Train services between Piraeus and the Hungarian capital Budapest began last year. Cosco, which operates the transshipment port at Piraeus, says the route shaves a week off the month-long freight journey that connects China with central Europe via ports on the North Sea, such as Rotterdam and Hamburg.

But the train services are only part of a broader plan – a plan which is causing considerable disquiet in the European Union’s corridors of power. Over the last few years, China has signed up 12 EU members and five prospective members, all from central and eastern Europe in a band running from Estonia on the Baltic to Greece on the Mediterranean, to its “17+1” forum.