Grenell: America has an obligation to push Serbia forward; if Trump becomes president, the Balkans will be in focus

At the Republican convention in Milwaukee, several hundred Serbs were present, and among the speakers were Richard Grenell, Congresswoman Claudia Tenney, Senator Johnson, former Governor Rod Blagojevich, and many others who emphasized the importance of good cooperation between the USA and Serbia and the significance of the Western Balkans.

Former envoy of former US President Donald Trump for the Serbia-Kosovo dialogue, Richard Grenell, said that if the Trump administration comes to power again, the Western Balkans region will become a priority in its policy. He promised that everyone living in the Balkans will witness the progress of the entire region if Donald Trump becomes President of the USA again.

He thanked all the gathered Serbs for being involved in the American elections, emphasizing that there are many of them in Chicago and Illinois.

"It's amazing how many Serbs tell me 'I support President Trump' when I travel across the country," Grenell said.

He says there is one reason for this.

"When President Trump appointed me as the envoy for Kosovo and Serbia, he said one thing: 'Go there and expand the economy so that young people have a reason to stay in the region, don't let them move to Poland, Germany, Hungary for work.' He wants your families to live and grow in Novi Sad, Belgrade; you must be able to have an economy. I also told President Aleksandar Vučić: 'Your future is with us, not with Russia or China; your future is with America,'" Grenell said.

He emphasized that America has an obligation to continue pushing Serbia forward and that it is committed to doing so.

According to him, America wants a region that cooperates and has left behind terrible conflicts.

"I admit I don't know the suffering many of your families have gone through, and it often seems that Americans are insensitive with their messages of 'move forward,' 'get over it,' but when we talk about moving forward, it's because we love the region, not because we are insensitive," he said.

He added that he hopes the region understands that there are values for which the USA says the past should be overcome.

"It's not because we don't respect the past; it's because we don't know what you know, and you must forgive us for sometimes being insensitive, but that's because we are focused on making your region an incredible one," he said.

He promised that if the Trump administration, with the support of Serbs, comes to power again in the USA, it will make the Western Balkans region and its progress the focus of its policy.

Congresswoman Claudia Tenney said she was honored that so many people attended the gathering.

"Obviously, we are very honored that so many Serbs and people came. We need President Trump to return to office. Trump talks about progress and unity, and these are things that are so needed now in the Balkans, to stop the victimization of Serbia forever. Look, we have acknowledged the bad things that happened in Serbia in the past, the Serbian people, along with everyone else, have healed and must move forward. We need progress in the future, a president who looks forward, policies that look forward are what we really need in Serbia. Again, we have forgotten how important the Balkans are. I think with President Trump, Richard Grenell, and others in the State Department, we are focusing on what is happening in the Western Balkans, and that is what we need to do. The unfortunate situation due to President Biden's weakness and his wrong policies, I think we can overcome that if we have Trump there as president, Grenell, and others. I want to make sure that someone like me—I'm not an expert on the Balkans but I've spent a lot of time there, dedicated a lot of love and attention to it, and I really care about the people there—I think they deserve progress in the future. These people have been through so much throughout history, all kinds of wars, occupations, we want to see a strong Serbia again and for the entire region to progress. And I think Serbia will be fundamentally important, because of its economy, entrepreneurship, because of its size," Tenney stated.

She emphasized that this is the vision of President Trump and people like her for the Balkans.

"I have tried so hard to make the Biden administration focus on how important the Balkans are, but it seems they can't make much progress in that," she said.

Regarding her meeting with Kurti at the Munich conference, she said she was "honest" with him.

"I told him about many problems I have with their fundamental violation of the Brussels Agreement and how that was unacceptable. The changes with the currency that affected the pensions of the Serbian minority living in Kosovo. We have to hold him accountable, he is a disruptive factor in the region, not Serbia, it is Kurti, and even Albanians are beginning to recognize that Kurti is the problem and are increasingly turning to Serbia because they also want prosperity in the region," emphasized the congresswoman.

Senator Johnson highlighted that the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo should put their nations first.

"And if they did, they would protect their people from wars. I don't know how you overcome the hatred caused by crimes committed during the war, that doesn't happen overnight. It takes time, but it takes leadership. It takes leadership that understands that for the good of their people, they must try to leave that in the past. Acknowledge the problems. Acknowledge the mistakes. And try to move forward with goodwill to create peace, security, because they can achieve that for their population and have a much better chance of achieving it for someone else's population," Johnson said.