Donic: Hanrahan’s visit shows Trump administration still prioritizes economic diplomacy

Petar Donic, associate of the “New Third Path” initiative, told Kosovo Online that the visit of U.S. State Department official Brendan Hanrahan to Sarajevo, Belgrade, and Pristina can be seen as part of preparatory steps for a potentially larger visit. According to Donic, the Trump administration continues the policy line from its previous term by placing economic diplomacy at the forefront.

He explains that Hanrahan’s visit demonstrates this approach, noting that Hanrahan previously worked with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio during Rubio’s Senate tenure, particularly on matters related to the private sector.

“This is a mild infusion of people with private sector experience into government. Hanrahan visited what could be described as flashpoints in the Balkans — Bosnia and Herzegovina, with its internal RS–Federation dynamics, Serbia, and Kosovo. It’s also a risk mitigation strategy: even if nothing concrete happens, red flags haven’t been raised. They’ve sent mid-level government officials to prepare the ground,” Donic said.

He added that the State Department’s usual working method is to first dispatch lower-level diplomats or officials — not the Secretary of State or his direct deputies — to "warm up the ground," speak with key stakeholders, and, based on that, plan a next-level visit.

Donic believes it is highly likely that Hanrahan conveyed certain messages from Washington to leaders in Belgrade and Pristina, particularly related to the dialogue — even if no official statements have been issued yet by the American side.

“These were closed-door discussions. The lack of public announcements suggests the situation is still in an early phase, where it’s too soon to reveal what direction these meetings might take. Previously, it was said that this region was not in focus for the Trump administration due to larger global hotspots. Yet, over the past month, Trump has mentioned Serbia and Kosovo multiple times, there was a meeting in Washington between the Secretary of State and our ambassador, and now this visit has taken place — so we can conclude that something is being prepared, though we don’t yet know what.”

He added that a new U.S. ambassador to Serbia is also expected — someone seen as friendly to Serbia — but has not yet formally taken office. All of this, he said, could signal a revival of more robust diplomatic and political activity between the U.S. and Serbia, though Americans tend to proceed “thoroughly and slowly.” “This is the first level of talks,” Donic said.

When asked whether this potential diplomatic revival also includes Pristina, Donic confirmed, explaining that from the U.S. perspective, these are interconnected issues:

“If they want to stabilize and resolve a situation that, from their point of view, the European Union has managed slowly and ineffectively, they’ll certainly want to address all interconnected matters — which include Kosovo–Serbia relations, Serbia–Bosnia relations, and the region as a whole,” Donic concluded.