BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said he spoke to Donald Trump late Sunday and invited him to visit the Balkan country, while noting that the U.S. president-elect had the highest support in Serbia among all European states during the elections. election campaign.
The populist Serbian leader said the call was “very cordial” and added that Trump “knew many things about Serbia.” He expressed hope that ties between Serbia and the United States will “further improve in all areas” during the next Trump administration.
Vucic said on Instagram that he “expressed the hope that he (Trump) would visit Serbia, because Serbia is a country where support for the election of President Trump was the largest in all of Europe.”
Vucic and other Serbian leaders had openly supported Trump during the campaign, hoping that his Balkan policies would diverge from the previous US administration’s efforts to contain Serbian nationalists’ expansionist aims against neighboring states.
Although Serbia is formally seeking membership of the European Union, it has refused to implement international sanctions against its traditional Slavic ally Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. Serbia has avoided major criticism in the West by supplying Ukraine with weapons exported through third countries.
Vucic said that Trump thanked him for the support he received from the Serbian people and that he was convinced that he can discuss further improvement of relations between the two countries in all areas with Trump in the near future.
Serbia had maintained close relations with Trump’s associates even during Joe Biden’s administration.
Earlier this year, the Serbian government approved a multi-million dollar contract with Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner over plans to build a luxury hotel on the site of the former Ministry of Defense in Belgrade. The downtown building was bombed during a NATO-led military intervention to stop the bloody Serbian crackdown on Kosovo Albanian separatists in 1999.
The project, which has sparked controversy in Serbia, was reportedly proposed to Kushner by a former Trump aide and Balkan envoy, Richard Grenell, who is said to be destined for a high post in the new Trump administration .
Vucic awarded Grenell a High Medal of Honor in 2023 for “distinguished services in developing and strengthening peaceful cooperation and friendly relations between Serbia and the US.”
