Nedeljkovic: Simply "pouring" money into lobbying efforts in the US doesn't necessarily yield results for Kosovo

There isn't a single lobbying initiative in Washington that can yield results for someone if their policy is entirely opposed to the White House, Stevan Nedeljkovic, an assistant professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade, says for Kosovo Online, adding that it doesn't mean much for Kosovo if Pristina "pours" money into Washington and lobbying efforts while having Albin Kurti in power, who is unwavering in his ideological views.

Nedeljkovic was commenting on recent media reports that from July last year to January 2024, Kosovo's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora paid two companies around $277,000 for lobbying in the US.

He explained that it is a mistaken premise to think that "pouring millions" into lobbying initiatives in Washington will necessarily yield noticeable results.

"You can pour in millions if you have a policy that is somewhat aligned with Washington at the given moment. If you approach Washington with a certain degree of pragmatism and have support in lobbying efforts, that synergy can yield results. If you are uncompromising, unpragmatic, and still pour in millions, your initiatives may end in failure," Nedeljkovic stated.

He added that Washington has a tradition of pragmatism, and if the logic of pragmatism isn't respected, and if one approaches Washington with unyielding ideas based on their own viewpoints, even with all the millions that can be spent on lobbyists, a positive outcome cannot be achieved.

At the same time, Nedeljkovic encourages Serbia to have as strong lobbying initiatives and efforts in Washington as possible because, according to him, that is the right path toward improving relations between Serbia and the US and toward a favorable US policy toward Serbia.