Marko Djuric, the new Minister of Foreign Affairs: From Kosovo and Washington to the head of Serbian diplomacy

The new Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister, Marko Djuric, comes to the position of head of diplomacy from his role as Serbia's ambassador to the United States.

According to many assessments, during his term as ambassador to the US from 2020 to 2024, Djuric laid the groundwork for a new level of bilateral relations between Serbia and the United States, strengthening diplomatic, political, and business ties between the two countries. In the US, he also organized the first major gathering of the Serbian diaspora to renew the closeness of the Serbian people in the diaspora with their motherland.

His involvement in diplomacy dates back even further. Namely, from 2012 to 2014, Djuric was the youngest advisor to the President of Serbia and led the foreign policy team in the Presidency. He headed Serbia's negotiating team for Chapter 35 in the accession negotiations process between Serbia and the EU.

Interestingly, he created and co-designed the "Natalie's Ramonda," an emblem that is now widely accepted in Serbia as the symbol of Armistice Day in World War I.

However, the new head of diplomacy is most closely associated with Kosovo, primarily because he served as the director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija for six years, from 2014 to 2020, in exceptionally complex political and security conditions.

He led a team that built and significantly reconstructed 2,470 houses and apartments for Serbs and other citizens of Serbia in Kosovo – internally displaced persons, returnees, and socially vulnerable individuals. He also, in cooperation with the Eparchy of Raska and Prizren, fully or partially reconstructed 45 churches, monasteries, and other Serbian Orthodox Church facilities, for which he received the Order of King Milutin from the then Patriarch Irinej on behalf of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija.

During his tenure at the helm of the Office, he initiated and implemented a series of other projects significant for Serbs in Kosovo, such as the returnee settlement "Sunny Valley," the Tourist-Health Complex "Rajska Banja" in Banjska, a new maternity ward in Pasjane, and several new health centers, kindergartens, and schools.

His brutal arrest and beating by Kosovo special forces six years ago, after which he was brought before a misdemeanor judge, will be remembered. It was decided that he be deported from Kosovo, with the explanation that it was an "intervention against him based on a ban on entry into Kosovo." 

Djuric also chaired the Government of Serbia's working group for an internal dialogue on resolving the Kosovo and Metohija issue, and in September 2020, he was a member of Serbia's state delegation in the Belgrade-Pristina negotiations in Washington.

From 2012 to 2020, he was the head of Serbia's negotiating team in the dialogue with Pristina.

Djuric is a member and one of the founders of the Serbian Progressive Party, where he serves as vice president.

He has received numerous awards and honors, including the Order of Njegos III degree awarded by the Republic of Srpska, the Order of Nikola Tesla, and the mentioned Order of King Milutin.

Djuric is a lawyer by education, speaks English and Hebrew fluently, is proficient in French and Russian, and in his free time, he enjoys running.

He is married to Andrijana Djuric and is the father of three daughters – Jovana, Milica, and Djurdja.