Earlier this year, Czech National Bank Governor Ales Michl flew to London to inspect the gold bars stored in the vault of the Bank of England.

Michl's inspection of the precious metals held by the Czech National Bank is part of his announced ambition to double the country's gold reserves to 100 tons over the next three years. Since he took office in 2022, this figure has increased fivefold, aiming to diversify the central bank's reserves.

"We need to reduce volatility," Michl told Bloomberg Television earlier this month, becoming excited when asked about the issue. "For this, we need an asset that is zero correlated with stocks, and that asset is gold."

The Czech central bank governor is not the only one accelerating the purchase of gold and silver. Peers from Poland to Serbia have joined the gold rush to diversify investments and bet on rising future gold prices. Eastern Europe has thus become one of the largest buyers of gold and helped drive up gold prices.

Central banks around the world are holding gold reserves to guard against external shocks, such as the trade wars that might arise from Trump's second term, as well as geopolitical tensions in Ukraine and the Middle East. However, central banks in Eastern European countries stand out in increasing their gold reserves.

In addition to Michl's trip to London, the Governor of the National Bank of Poland also wrote a screenplay about the history of gold in Poland. Serbian authorities are repatriating their stocks stored abroad to ensure their safety and reduce storage costs.

In Eastern Europe, which has been ravaged by war, the pursuit of security is a strong motive for increasing gold holdings, and now, this region is near the deadliest conflict on the European continent since World War II.

According to the latest data from the World Gold Council, Poland, which borders Ukraine and is a steadfast supporter of Ukraine in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, was the largest buyer of gold globally in the second quarter.

In the second quarter of 2024, the central bank buyer with the highest increase in shareholding of gold.

Adam Glapinski, the governor of the Polish central bank, stated that gold and hard currency reserves are crucial for protecting the economy from catastrophic events. By September, he increased the gold holdings to approximately 420 tons, about half of the reserves of india or japan.

"We are entering the exclusive club of the world's largest holders of gold," Glapinski proudly stated at a press conference last month, reinforcing his goal to increase the gold reserves' proportion to 20%.

The Polish central bank governor lamented that there was no time to write his script draft. A video produced by the central bank on YouTube in February this year showed Glapinski sunbathing in a vault, where sealed boxes containing 6,000 gold bars were stored, as he proclaimed that these gold bars "belong to all Polish people."

The Czech central bank is also a potential member of this "exclusive club". This central bank has foreign reserves of approximately 150 billion dollars, nearly half of its gross domestic product, a proportion that ranks among the highest in the world.

Michel's forex reserve diversification strategy includes purchasing usa stocks. This year, as gold prices reached historic highs, he faced some criticism for buying gold. However, he responded that the long-term buying is gradual to reduce the impact of price fluctuations.

As geopolitical tensions rise, buying gold has remained a solid choice for monetary policymakers. Goldman Sachs lists gold as one of the most important csi commodity equity index trades for 2025, stating that gold prices may continue to rise during Trump's presidency, reaching $3,000 an ounce by December next year.

Gold has reached a historical high.

"The geopolitical divide is favorable for gold, and the gradual weakening of the dollar should drive further increases," said J.Safra Sarasin in a report on November 10.

For Eastern European leaders, gold is seen as a safe haven and a political selling point, as they often need to maintain a complex balance between the West, Russia, and China. The Hungarian central bank has increased its gold reserves by over 10% this year, reaching 110 tons.

The country's Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, is happy to be the EU's main disruptor, maintaining close relationships with both the Kremlin and Trump.

The Hungarian central bank also praised gold as a safe haven. Gold has played an important role in the history of this country.

The Hungarian Museum of Coins is located in a palace owned by the central bank, featuring a steam locomotive made of yellow bars. This sculpture, named "The Rumble," depicts central bank staff escaping from Soviet troops on a train loaded with gold reserves at the end of World War II to prevent gold from falling into foreign hands.

The influence of gold in Serbia is also significant. Aleksandar Vucic, the Serbian president who has a firm grip on power like Orban, repatriated the country's gold reserves stored abroad in 2021. This year, he pledged to use "every remaining fund" from the treasury to buy gold, "to ensure safety during difficult times."

Since taking office in 2012, Serbian central bank governor Jorgovanka Tabakovic has doubled the gold reserves to 48 tons. She stated that these buy-in measures were closely guided by Vucic, who provided "strategic thinking, knowledge and information on global geopolitical relationships" to support gold purchases.

In times of global turmoil, especially during geopolitical conflicts and high inflation, the value and importance of gold are increasing," Tabakovic stated in a reply to a question via email. "Unfortunately, in recent years we have seen both of these factors at play."