Countries in Central and Eastern Europe have purchased millions of Chinese-manufactured surveillance cameras in the last five years, despite security flaws in the devices and loose manufacturer practices regarding data collection and ties to the Chinese state, according to research conducted in nine countries.
While public national databases for surveillance cameras do not exist for most countries, available data and reports indicate that Dahua and Hikvision, two Chinese companies partially owned by the state and among the world’s leading suppliers of TV equipment and surveillance cameras, dominate the markets in Hungary, Serbia, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Kosovo, Bulgaria, and Georgia.
Reports show that despite escalating concerns and checks regarding overreliance on Chinese technology in critical infrastructure in Western capitals, Dahua and Hikvision cameras are also being used in sensitive locations, including military bases in Romania and special police headquarters in Hungary, which experts say are vulnerable to hacker attacks and other malicious actors.
Serbia
Data from the Serbian Customs Administration does not specifically address the import of Chinese-manufactured surveillance cameras, but data over the past five years indicates a continuous increase in the number of purchased Chinese cameras during that period. In 2023 alone, approximately 5.8 million dollars was spent on purchasing Chinese cameras in Serbia.
According to a 2023 study, more than 40 municipalities and cities in Serbia, nearly one-third of all local self-governments in the country, have public surveillance and traffic monitoring systems from the Chinese manufacturer Dahua. This expansion occurred over the past five years at a cost of approximately 32 million dollars.
In recent years, Serbia has installed more than 1.000 surveillance cameras with facial recognition capabilities from the Chinese company Huawei.
The installation of cameras in Belgrade has been controversial because Serbia lacks appropriate data privacy laws for processing biometric information taken from facial recognition footage. An investigation in 2022 revealed that Serbian officials are already using Chinese technology to monitor and target activists and protesters, raising concerns that more advanced Chinese-made surveillance equipment could be abused.
BiH
BiH, where authority is divided between a state-level government and several lower-level entities, does not have a database for the entire country. However, data from local ministries, cities, and municipalities indicates an increasing use of surveillance cameras in recent years.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska (RS) stated that in 2023 alone, 139 Dahua cameras were purchased for a total of 47.000 dollars. Banja Luka, the administrative center of the entity, is also home to a smart city project where 265 out of 325 planned Dahua cameras have already been installed.
The Sarajevo Ministry of Internal Affairs stated that they have only purchased two cameras from Chinese manufacturers in the last five years, without specifying which company they bought them from.
They emphasized that according to the law, the Sarajevo police can access cameras installed in public areas by other institutions, such as cities and municipalities.
The Border Police of BiH stated that they had not purchased any Chinese equipment, Slobodna Evropa reports.
Photo: illustration
