Aleksandar Vučić honored Trump with the epithet "leader of the epoch", and his son-in-law with the title of General Staff. Will it pay off for him in any way?
President of the United States (USA) Donald tramp in his inauguration speech on Monday (January 20th), he made it clear that his interests will be solely focused on America and Americans.
But what kind of relationship could his administration have with the authorities in Belgrade, which have an ambivalent relationship with Washington - they are very humble, which the USA, like any hegemon, appreciates very much, but they do not give up, even declaratively, Kosovo and Metohija, which is interpreted as resisting US interests in the Balkans.
Outgoing US ambassador Christopher Hill said recently that he does not rule out a change in US policy towards Serbia after Trump returns to the White House and added that he expects relations between the two countries to further progress.
Hill said he is "optimistic about the future of US-Serbia relations", noting that it is "really hard to say" whether US policy towards Serbia will change. He also noted that part of its staff has experience in working with Serbia, so a change should not be ruled out.
Vučić: We will be able to make Serbia a decent country
If anything is certain, it is that President Aleksandar Vučić has the highest expectations from Trump in Serbia. He did not miss the opportunity to lean on Trump's election slogan "Let's make America great again" and to remind him, after Trump convincingly defeated Kamala Harris in the elections, that Serbia was the country where support for Trump was the highest in all of Europe.
"I am sure that we will make America great, and that we will be able to make Serbia a decent country and a country that will be able to cooperate very well with the USA," said Vučić at the time.
After Vučić, the pro-regime tabloids, especially "Informer", which also rented billboards to congratulate Trump, were the most happy about Trump's victory. Regime media repeat that Trump will dismantle globalism, and that enthusiasm is shared by Vučić, who honored Trump with the title of "leader of the era".
Vučić also stated that Trump, by signing numerous acts at the very beginning of his second term, will destroy "the entire system of the false liberal world that existed, in which there were their servants who are worthy and good, and all these others are evil and bad."
Trump's return to the White House coincides with civil protests and student blockades of faculties in Serbia.
On that occasion, Vučić expressed high expectations that Trump will make "major structural changes in the political blood flow in the world" and reconsider the donations that are given to non-governmental organizations from the US budget. Vučić believes that these "pressure groups" are actually external organizers of protests in Serbia whose goal is "to destroy free and libertarian states in the world."
Nothing new in Kosovo
The question remains how the change in the White House will affect Washington's attitude towards the Kosovo problem, because even the biggest Trump fans in Serbia do not believe that the change of government in the USA will change the attitude of that country towards the independence of Kosovo.
What could be improved, according to experts, is the economic position of the Serbs in the north of Kosovo and the protection of their monuments and religious buildings.
The former American ambassador to Serbia, Cameron Manter, recently pointed out that Trump's return to the White House "will definitely force a change of strategy in the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia", because Trump wants an agreement.
"His goal is not to introduce Serbs and citizens of Kosovo into the European Union." "His goal is to do what's best for the United States, to make America great again," Manter said.
Belgrade's trump cards in the party with Trump
Due to at least three reasons, official Belgrade hopes that Trump's return will further improve the relations between Serbia and the USA. These are the intimate relationship of the authorities in Belgrade with Richard Grenell, the transfer of the General Staff building to Trump's son-in-law and the delivery of Serbian ammunition to Ukraine and Israel, which improved the access of official Belgrade to the White House.
Grenell was the special envoy for negotiations between Serbia and Kosovo, and Vučić presented him with the Order of the Serbian Flag of the First Class in 2023 for distinguished services in developing and strengthening peaceful cooperation and friendly relations between Serbia and the USA.
Serbia signed a contract with Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner's company on the "revitalization" of the General Staff complex, on the site of which the construction of two high-rise buildings with apartments and hotels is planned.
In addition, even before Trump's election victory, Donald Trump Jr. visited Belgrade and discussed potential investments with a group of businessmen from Serbia.
Even now, the former administration of Joseph Biden took a not insignificant step just before Trump's return to the White House.
Just ten days before Trump's inauguration, US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Verma came to Serbia with the aim of starting a strategic dialogue between Serbia and the US and thus raising the relationship to a higher level.
Establishing a strategic dialogue with a country means that the USA sees that country as a reliable partner and ally, so the establishment of that dialogue could mean that Serbia's relations with China and Russia, but their influence will be balanced by a special relationship with America.
That strategic cooperation, according to experts, could be a green light for American investors and an indicator that Serbia is a country that is safe for investments, especially since the USA is already Serbia's largest trading partner in the field of IT services, so it can be expected that Trump's administration to be even more interested in cooperation in the field of business.
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