Why should Donald Trump visit Serbia

The arrival of Donald Trump would not only show the Serbian people that the United States wants Serbia as an ally. This visit would also send a signal to American investors that our country is a safe destination for major investments. I'm confident that Donald and Melania Trump would receive a welcome in Belgrade reminiscent of the receptions for Tito and Jovanka.

Donald Trump's major electoral victory caused a shockwave felt worldwide, and there are few countries where this news was received with as much joy as in Serbia. Foreign policy will be one of the main priorities of the new U.S. president, and we can expect increased engagement from Trump and his closest associates on the international stage.

Donald Trump is a man who often sets historical precedents, and as such, a potential visit to Belgrade could be expected. It has been 45 years since an American president visited Belgrade, and Donald Trump has a historic opportunity to open a new chapter in Serbian-American relations with one visit. I am confident that Donald and Melania Trump would receive a welcome in Belgrade like the receptions for Tito and Jovanka.

Since we founded the Pupin Initiative to strengthen relations between Serbia and the USA and improve Serbia's global position, I have been telling our public that today we have a generational opportunity to elevate Serbian-American relations to the level of alliance and to pave the way for our relations for the coming decades. Serbia and America have the most substantial relations in the Western Balkans, while America increasingly recognizes the importance and potential of Serbia in this part of Europe.

The future U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance announced in his earlier speeches a new approach by America towards Europe and its allies, which means that you can be an ally of America if you pay your own bills, that is, if you are a partner country and not a burden. I believe that Serbia, unlike some others in the region, can position itself precisely as a responsible partner that does not rely heavily on American development aid but develops its economy in the market. For us in Serbia, it will be crucial to have the best possible relations with the U.S. over the next ten years to continue our technological development.

Serbian officials today are busier than ever, as the number of foreign leaders visiting Belgrade has been rapidly increasing since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. Leaders of most world powers have come to Serbia after Russia attacked Ukraine, including European leaders Ursula von der Leyen, Emmanuel Macron, Olaf Scholz, and global leaders like Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Xi Jinping, and Mohamed bin Zayed. These visits show their countries' aim to strengthen ties with Serbia—a goal American officials have also highlighted.

However, it has been almost half a century since a U.S. president visited Serbia. In current circumstances, a visit to Belgrade from the United States at the highest level represents a natural step in developing the American-Serbian partnership. To begin with, we should consider previous visits of American presidents to Serbia, the circumstances in which they took place, and their subsequent impact.

Richard Nixon's visit to Yugoslavia in October 1970 was the first official visit by a sitting U.S. president to a socialist country in Eastern Europe, reflecting Yugoslavia’s international reputation in the 1970s. Nixon’s administration aimed to strengthen ties with non-aligned countries at a time when wars were raging in Vietnam, Cambodia, and the Middle East. Maintaining peaceful relations with the non-aligned movement can also be seen as part of Nixon’s broader policy of détente and cooling global tensions. Nixon's successor, Gerald Ford, visited Yugoslavia in 1975, when the Middle East was a hot topic on which the U.S. and Yugoslavia disagreed. Ford spoke about economic cooperation and military support, including aid to strengthen Yugoslavia’s defense capabilities.

Yugoslav-American relations were on the rise in the early 1970s, but President Jimmy Carter set the tone for a future downturn in relations with Yugoslavia through two significant mistakes. First, during the 1976 presidential campaign, Carter stated that he would not assist Yugoslavia in the event of a Soviet attack. As Vice President Walter Mondale later said, "We worked for almost three years to correct that mistake."

The Yugoslav leadership felt ignored by the U.S. amidst rising global tensions and the end of détente. Yugoslavia's growing distrust was further aggravated in 1980, when Carter skipped the funeral of Josip Broz Tito. The renowned diplomat and U.S. Ambassador to Yugoslavia Lawrence Eagleburger and Carter's advisers had urged the president months before Tito's death to attend the funeral, but Carter decided not to go. Instead, Vice President Mondale, Treasury Secretary G. William Miller, and the president's mother Lillian led a delegation of 25 people.

Tito's funeral was one of the largest state funerals in recent history. Delegations from 128 countries attended, including 209 statesmen, among them four kings, 31 presidents, and six princes, as well as prime ministers and ministers from many countries. The presence of leaders like Margaret Thatcher, Kim Il Sung, Helmut Schmidt, Indira Gandhi, and Saddam Hussein illustrated Yugoslavia's strong and diverse international position and Tito's influence. Carter's absence was widely criticized in the United States, with George H.W. Bush remarking that it "indirectly offended the Yugoslavs at a time when the country had distanced itself from the Soviet Union." Carter was also criticized by European allies, while the Yugoslav leadership felt particularly neglected and insulted by his absence. The unexpected presence of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev further worsened the damage caused by Carter's absence, as the Soviets showed a more proactive approach in engaging with post-war Yugoslavia.

President Carter visited Belgrade less than two months later and paid his respects at Tito's grave, but his belated visit could be described as insignificant. Yugoslavia lost much of its international influence in the years following Tito's death due to political and economic instability, while the priorities of the Reagan administration lay elsewhere.

Forty-five years after Carter's visit, no American president has visited Belgrade. To say that relations between Belgrade and Washington have been turbulent in the decades since Carter's visit would be an understatement. However, today, nearly half a century since an American president last visited Belgrade and a day after Donald Trump's victory over Kamala Harris, global circumstances call for a new visit by a U.S. president to Belgrade.

Serbia is positioning itself as a key regional player capable of maintaining stability in a part of the world historically known as the powder keg. This has been confirmed by increased U.S. and European efforts to integrate Serbia into the regional security system. Growing partnerships in other areas, such as the economy and energy, attest to these efforts, and there is undeniable activity on bilateral and multilateral levels to bring Serbia closer to the West. This progress is not reflected in public opinion, which could present a long-term threat.

As the U.S. seeks to balance Russian and Chinese influence in the region, Serbia’s role as an economic partner is becoming increasingly significant. A visit by Donald Trump would not only show the Serbian people that the United States seeks Serbia as an ally but would also signal to American investors that Serbia is a safe destination for major investments. The rich historical and cultural heritage of Serbian-American relations offers many reasons for uniting around shared interests, from humanitarian aid during and after both World Wars to prominent Serbian-American figures like Nikola Tesla and Mihajlo Pupin, or sports, which is a passion for both nations.

By Vuk Velebit, Executive Director of the Pupin Initiative and political scientist