Europe is right to be wary of China’s growing economic footprint on the Continent. Beijing’s attempts to nudge European policy in a direction that serves its strategic interest — and its selective interpretation of EU regulation — are issues that deserve long-term attention from policymakers. But while China is a concern, Europe should not lose sight of the immediate foreign policy crisis it faces: Russia.

To be sure, Beijing’s influence threatens to exacerbate existing divisions among EU members that already struggle to agree on a common foreign policy. In Eastern Europe especially, China is making inroads by investing in crucial infrastructure projects and could drive a wedge between national governments and Brussels.

China’s growing economic weight is inevitable: As Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, one of the most enthusiastic proponents of Chinese investment, has said, the world economy's center of gravity “is shifting from the Atlantic region to the Pacific region.” It should not surprise EU-watchers that China is seeking to expand its economic reach into Europe.

There’s no doubt Europe needs to come up with a united front against China. Beijing is approaching trade and investment in Europe like it does in places like the South China Sea and Africa — by capitalizing on political divisions and creating economic dependence. China’s investment strategy is not just about business. There is a geopolitical undertone to every yuan China spends abroad.

Russia's influence is a far greater threat to the European project then China's.

But so far, the numbers don’t match up with the perceived scale of the threat: Only 5 percent of Hungary’s imports come from China, while over 27 percent of its exports go to Germany.

Of far greater concern should be the fact that Slovakia, the Czech Republic and even Hungary, are nearly wholly reliant on Russian gas imports to fuel their economies — an arguably far greater risk to their economies and to their security. The attempted assassination of a former Russian spy in the U.K. earlier this month is further proof that Russia plays by a different rule book and has little respect for the sovereignty of its neighbors.

For all the deleterious potential that Beijing’s expansion holds for European interests and norms, Russian influence is a far greater — and more immediate — threat to the European project.

China has an economic interest “in a stable, if fragmented Europe.” That is not the case for Russia, where Vladimir Putin sees a united Europe as affront to national security.

Where China seeks to advance discreet policy aims through investment and seeking inroads into the European institutions, Moscow is engaged in a deeper and more deliberate effort to undermine and paralyze Western institutions. Its operations in Europe are sophisticated, widespread and show no sign of abating.

What the EU must remember is that while China's tactics may appear similar to Russia’s, their goals are not the same.

The two threats are linked. By overreacting to Beijing’s incursion into Europe and pushing a reflexively hostile stance toward Chinese investments, the EU risks alienating its Eastern European members, who need the investments and favor a softer stance toward China. This could have serious repercussions for the unity of the EU, whose fringe members are keen to show that they maintain foreign policy independent of Brussels, which may break in Moscow's favor. Last year's defiant 16+1 meeting between China and the Eastern European countries to promote Chinese investments in the region is evidence of this.

The EU should avoid a knee-jerk reaction to China. The bloc has the tools it needs to monitor growing Chinese interests in the region and to formulate a common China policy that takes into account the interests of all stakeholders, from Berlin to Bucharest.

China may seek to translate its economic heft into political pressure against EU members over issues that it cares about. But what the EU must remember is that while China's tactics may appear similar to Russia’s, their goals are not the same.

China ultimately wants to create a convenient, pliable relationship with the EU and its member countries. But Russia wants to undermine the very concept of European unity and salami-slice EU member countries away from Brussels. That’s the real crisis — and one Europe can’t afford to forget.

Anthony Cho is a researcher at the Center for a New American Security.