en.vijesti.me<https://en.vijesti.me/world-a/balkan/789145/Serbia-and-the-President%27s-Administration-Now-From-Billboards-with-the-Message-of-Bartering-Serbs-to-Disappointment> Serbia and the US presidential administration: From billboards with the message "Trump, Serbs" to disappointment Vijesti 11–13 minutes ________________________________
<https://en.vijesti.me/Author/58/radio-free-europe> 25.12.2025. 21:36h >From billboards with the message "Trump, Serb" to disappointment. Sanctions against the Oil Company of Serbia (NIS), tariffs on products from Serbia - the highest in the region, a ramp for car tires from the Chinese Linglong factory in Serbia - are measures taken by the US administration in less than a year of President Donald Trump's term. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić now admits that, instead of the expected major progress from the Trump administration, decisions have been made that are not in Serbia's interest. This assessment comes a year after the American elections, when Trump's victory was "celebrated" in Belgrade with expectations of a more favorable attitude towards Serbia. "I assume that (Vučić) wanted Trump to accept him and see him as a key figure for peace in the region. He must be disappointed that that didn't happen," Daniel Server, a professor at Johns Hopkins University in the US, told Radio Free Europe (RSE). State Department summons embassy in Belgrade The State Department did not directly respond to RFE/RL's request for comment on the Serbian president's assessment, but referred to a statement from the US Embassy in Belgrade. The statement quoted the statement of Chargé d'Affaires Aleksandar Titol from the opening of the Moravian Corridor section near Vrnjačka Banja, in central Serbia, on December 24th. Titolo said at the time that, under Vučić and Trump's leadership, cooperation between Serbia and the US is now "stronger than ever and that today we can see some of the tangible fruits of our strong and growing partnership." The work on the Moravian Corridor is being carried out by the American-Turkish consortium Bechtel-Enka, and Titolo added that 2025 was "a significant year because we have ushered in a new era in relations between the US and Serbia." "This year we have had historic high-level meetings between American and Serbian officials. I will mention only the meeting between the US Secretary of State and the Serbian Foreign Minister, the first in almost two decades. We have announced a new Strategic Dialogue between our countries," he added. The US is conducting a "strategic dialogue" with dozens of countries around the world, with the aim of improving bilateral relations, and among the countries in the region, Romania and Slovenia, members of the European Union, as well as North Macedonia - the only one from the Western Balkans, have conducted a strategic dialogue with Washington. However, the fact is that the United States has not had an ambassador in Serbia for almost a year. Although Trump nominated Republican Marko Brnović for the position in March, the administration withdrew the proposal in early October, without giving reasons. Why did Belgrade have high expectations from Trump? When Donald Trump re-entered the White House a year ago, government officials did not hide their joy. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić then announced that in a phone conversation with President-elect Trump, he emphasized that Serbia was the country where he had the greatest support in all of Europe. "I am sure that, with the support of friends, and by friends I mean President Trump's entire entourage, we will be able to make America great, and we Serbia a decent country, which will be able to cooperate very well with the United States," Vučić said on November 11, 2024, on Instagram after that conversation. A year later, during a speech at the Ambassadorial Conference of the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Belgrade, Vučić said that no progress had been made so far. Former Serbian Ambassador to Washington Ivan Vujačić tells RFE/RL that relations between Serbia and the United States are not the best today, and he explains this by the highest tariffs in the region, sanctions on NIS, and the Linglong tire ramp. "There was support for Trump here and a public opinion was created in which hopes were placed in Trump that he would have a much greater understanding of Serbia on a whole range of issues. That turned out to be untrue," says Vujačić. He notes that an attempt was made to approach the Trump administration through the project to revitalize the General Staff complex, assessing that it was done in a "poorly chosen manner." "Trump's son-in-law realized at one point that he was being dragged into a story that had elements of corruption and criminal acts, and he got out of it," he added. The company "Affinity Partners" of Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of the US president, recently announced that it is abandoning the construction of a luxury complex in the center of Belgrade, on the site of the General Staff destroyed in the NATO bombing in 1999. Previously, the prosecution accused Serbian Culture Minister Nikola Selaković of falsifying documents on the basis of which the General Staff lost its status as a protected cultural asset. Officials justified the General Staff project by claiming that it was a way to bring relations between Serbia and the United States closer, accusing opponents of the idea of spoiling it and driving away investors. Asked why they in Belgrade believed that Trump would take a more favorable stance towards Serbia, Server said that they felt well treated during Trump's first term. “And they hoped that the interests of the Trump family in Belgrade would prevail,” says Server. Vučić's meeting with Trump in his first term Aleksandar Vučić met with Donald Trump during his first term, in September 2020 at the White House, when he signed the Agreement on the Normalization of Economic Relations between Serbia and Kosovo with the then Prime Minister of Kosovo, Avdullah Hoti. To this day, not all obligations from that agreement, known as the Washington Agreement, have been fulfilled. And it was precisely on the issue of Kosovo that officials in Belgrade expected more attention to Serbia's interests from the US administration, but the American position did not change. The United States was among the first to recognize Kosovo's statehood, while Serbia still does not recognize Kosovo's independence. Vučić did not meet with Trump again, although Vučić announced at the end of April that he would meet with the American president twice during his May visit to the US. However, Vučić suddenly returned from the trip, reportedly due to severe chest pain due to high blood pressure. Later in the year, on September 23, Vučić met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in New York, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session. According to Vučić, they discussed strengthening political dialogue, improving economic cooperation, and common security challenges, with the focus on resolving the issue of US tariffs. In April, the US administration imposed the highest tariff on foreign products on Serbia of all Western Balkan countries – 37 percent. Immediately before Vučić's admission that there was no progress from Washington as he expected, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued an order to hold back the import of car tires manufactured at the Chinese Linglong factory in Serbia, due to allegations that they were produced using forced labor. In addition, due to US sanctions on NIS due to its majority Russian ownership, the operation of NIS's crude oil refinery was suspended. How important is Serbia to the USA? Asked what the future of Serbian-American relations might be, former ambassador Ivan Vujačić says that the US does not care about Serbia. "We're not very high on their radar," he says. "Things are happening by some inertia since the Biden administration, like sanctions on the Russians, but the fact is that this is pressure on the Russians as part of an attempt to achieve peace in Ukraine," he adds. On the other hand, he adds, there is animosity towards China. "So Chinese influence here will certainly not be something that is particularly well-received, or rather Chinese investments," Vujačić assessed. Serbia is a candidate for membership in the European Union, but as of December 2021, it has not opened any negotiation chapters. Mainly due to avoiding imposing sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, but also due to unresolved relations with Kosovo and the state of democracy and the rule of law in the country. In addition, Serbia is strengthening cooperation with China, both political and economic, and in recent years, military. American professor Daniel Serwer says there is clear, bipartisan dissatisfaction in Congress and the State Department with Serbia and its behavior. "Serbia is a key country in the Balkans, but as long as it decides to align itself with Russia and China, it can expect a cold attitude from those in the United States who follow developments in the Balkans," Server said. Asked whether Serbia's importance has changed compared to previous administrations, Server assesses that "Washington's perception of Belgrade's goodwill may have changed." "Vučić's 'double game' regarding Ukraine and causing problems in Kosovo have cast a long shadow. Removing it will require decisions that Vučić seems unwilling to make. I expect he will try, probably using Dodik's methods: expensive lobbyists and non-transparent bargaining," he added. At the end of October, the United States removed Milorad Dodik, the president of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Željka Cvijanović, members of Dodik's family, their companies, and close associates from the sanctions list. Dodik was sanctioned for anti-Dayton activities, i.e. undermining the state of BiH, and the State Department explained the lifting of sanctions by decisions of the Assembly of the BiH entity Republika Srpska, stating that they should "improve the stability of BiH." Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump signed the National Defense Authorization Act, which also mentions the Western Balkan countries, as well as the need for their Euro-Atlantic integration and reducing energy dependence on Russia. The law also expresses concern about the state of democracy in Serbia, but stipulates that Serbia and Kosovo should strive to achieve immediate progress regarding the implementation of the agreement on the normalization of relations. It also states that the US should continue to support the achievement of a comprehensive final agreement between Kosovo and Serbia, which will be based on mutual recognition. Bonus video: Next Stay Close ✕ www.antic.org -- http:www.antic.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "SERBIAN NEWS NETWORK" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/senet/PH0PR13MB5446BC6DAB873B95858E0930AEB1A%40PH0PR13MB5446.namprd13.prod.outlook.com.
