Donic: Vucic–Rubio meeting a good signal, strategic dialogue will greatly contribute to relations with the US

Petar Donic, associate of the New Third Way, assessed the meeting between Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio as very important, reminding that the United States is the world’s strongest economic and military power, with an extremely large influence in Europe, especially, as he emphasized, when it comes to the Kosovo issue. He also pointed out that the strategic dialogue, which the two leaders discussed launching, could significantly benefit Serbia in its relations with the Americans.

In a statement for Kosovo Online, Donic said that having expanded diplomatic relations with the US, which has been happening in recent months and even years, is always very positive. He stressed it was additionally important that Rubio himself invited President Vucic to talk and raised issues such as economic cooperation, strategic dialogue, EXPO, and the tariffs introduced by the Trump administration for all countries, including Serbia.

“This is very important for Serbia. Serbia should try, as we have seen is possible, with various politicians visiting the White House and holding different bilateral meetings with State Department officials and others, to negotiate better terms through additional agreements, as it usually goes. This is all good for Serbia: to have an increased US presence, especially in today’s circumstances, and an increased presence of multiple actors. So this is absolutely a good signal. The more discussions take place, the less likely a negative scenario becomes. The only negative thing would be if all these things were happening globally, while Serbia had no dialogue with such an important stakeholder on the global stage,” Donic said.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasized that in New York, he and President Vucic had also discussed a strategic dialogue that, as he underlined, the two nations will soon launch.

Donic notes that, generally speaking, the strategic dialogues the US conducts with countries around the world each have their own dynamics depending on the partner. He recalls that in the past six months, there have been numerous announcements about a strategic dialogue with Serbia, and it is very likely that some fundamental and concrete steps will be taken in 2026.

“Strategic dialogue, as a format in itself, can greatly contribute to a country’s relations with the Americans. They already highlighted some key themes as major pillars of discussion, for example, energy. So we should expect something more concrete. When Americans conduct diplomacy, there is a series of meetings at different levels, from mid- and lower-level officials up to ministers, which can eventually culminate at the presidential level. Step by step, they build agreements, discussions, and new topics. If we rewind six months, we will see this has already been happening,” Donic said, pointing to phone conversations as well as meetings between Serbian and US officials in Belgrade, New York, and Washington as evidence, as he emphasized, that groundwork is already being laid in a fundamental and layered way.