Aleksandar Vučić, the president of Serbia, witnessed a humanoid robot kick a penalty goal early on August 29 while standing inside a factory floor in Šabac, a mid-sized town on the Sava River in western Serbia. It landed the shot with enough accuracy to elicit a response from the audience, moving somewhat deliberately. It’s difficult to determine which moment or the robot impressed people more. In any case, the cameras were rolling, and the message was unmistakable: Europe’s first humanoid robot mass-production facility had recently opened in Serbia.
The Serbian government has referred to the factory, which is run by Chinese manufacturer Minth Group in collaboration with Chinese robotics firm AGIBOT, as Europe’s first such production base. It’s a big claim, and the timing seems intentional for a nation that has spent years attempting to place itself between the East and the West without fully committing to either. The facility opened a few weeks after Washington prohibited the importation of sophisticated, foreign-made robots into the country due to what officials deemed to be intolerable risks to national security.
The first robot put together at the current Minth Metal Parts major facility in Šabac was given a serial number during the opening ceremony. Production is currently underway there. Minth had the floor space, logistics infrastructure, and workforce experience that a fledgling robotics company needs to get going fast, and it was already operating as an automotive supplier in Serbia. That background is important. It takes years to build a robot factory from the ground up. Incorporating robotic assembly into an already-existing industrial process is a completely different calculation.
With about 200 employees directly employed in the new division, the plant anticipates assembling over 5,000 robots annually during the first phase. The planned investment would reach €200 million with the construction of a Robotics Industrial Park in the northern city of Inęija. Eventually, the production capacity is anticipated to reach 20,000 humanoid robots and robotic dogs for markets throughout Europe and the world. These are projections that should be handled carefully. A ceremonial first unit rolling off the line and continuous delivery to paying customers at that scale are very different.
It’s difficult to ignore what’s going on here, though. Because Serbia enjoys preferential trade conditions with Brussels, analysts at the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Berlin have observed that the Serbian facility might allow China to avoid future EU tariffs.
Although Serbia is not a member of the EU, it benefits from agreements with the bloc that may, in some circumstances, permit goods assembled primarily in Serbia to be treated differently than goods shipped straight from China. Nobody involved in the deal’s structuring was probably unaware of that strategic detail. According to one analyst, “For the EU, this project risks exacerbating some of the dangers that already exist.”
An additional level of tension was introduced by the announcement’s military component. Vučić informed those present at the opening that within 15 days, Serbia’s armed forces would show off their first use of Chinese robots—not just walking, but, as he put it, using “very serious weapons.” It’s the type of statement that, depending on where you’re sitting, has a different impact. It makes Brussels wonder what precisely is being gathered in Šabac and for whom. At a time when Western capitals are scrutinizing Chinese technology, Beijing views it as a public endorsement by a European ally.
At this point, it’s also important to consider what “production” really entails. According to RFE/RL’s Balkan Service, inquiries concerning the nature of the assembly occurring at the facility were not answered by either Belgrade or the Chinese companies. Manufacturing and assembly are two different things. One entails assembling imported modules, while the other entails constructing the essential parts—actuators, sensors, and power systems—locally. Whether Šabac eventually develops into a true robotics hub or stays a finishing station for hardware created and manufactured elsewhere depends on this distinction.
The nation has declared its goals to increase local talent development while integrating robot manufacturing with the AI, supercomputing, and data center industries. Decisions made over the next few years regarding training, supplier development, and whether or not European customers actually purchase these machines and return for more will determine whether that comes to pass.
It is already evident that the robotics industry is changing geographically. China’s access to Western markets is being slowed down by the United States. China is figuring out ways to get around those limitations, sometimes by working with allies in countries like Serbia.
Qin Ronghua, the founder of Minth, added that the company intends to broaden its product line in Serbia to include advanced batteries and unmanned aerial vehicles, indicating that this is not just a bet on humanoids. It seems like Šabac is being positioned as more than just one factory. Execution, not announcements, determines whether it becomes that.
As of right now, the robots are moving; some are carrying people across the factory floor, while others are kicking footballs. That’s a beginning. It will take a lot longer to find answers to the more difficult questions concerning supply chains, customers, and long-term value creation.
