As rancour builds in the EU over delays to its coronavirus vaccination rollout, Serbia has sped ahead to achieve continental Europe’s highest per capita inoculation rate.

But the Balkan state — a candidate to join the bloc — is not using jabs manufactured in the west. Serbia instead has turned to China’s Sinopharm, becoming the first European country to use the company’s shots and its neighbours are set to follow Belgrade’s lead.

“The world has hit an iceberg, like the Titanic, and the rich and the richest only save themselves and their loved ones,” Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic said last week, justifying his decision to purchase Chinese and Russian jabs while also negotiating contracts for EU-approved ones.