Vučić Urges US-Serbia Strategic Partnership, Citing 1970 as Last Presidential Visit
Updated
Updated · Fox News · May 22
Vučić Urges US-Serbia Strategic Partnership, Citing 1970 as Last Presidential Visit
2 articles · Updated · Fox News · May 22
Aleksandar Vučić cast Serbia as an unusually pro-Trump outlier in Europe, saying Belgrade is ready for a strategic partnership with Washington despite the legacy of the 1999 NATO bombing.
Trump’s first-term approach helped shift Serbian attitudes, Vučić wrote, arguing the former president listened seriously to Serbian concerns and came to be seen in Serbia as a peacemaker rather than a bully.
Serbia’s pitch rests on economics as well as politics: Vučić said the country has one of Europe’s fastest GDP growth rates, sits on the continent’s second-largest mineable lithium deposits and is expanding data, EV and energy infrastructure.
The proposal also carries a geopolitical message, with Vučić insisting Serbia’s EU path does not require distancing itself from Washington and presenting Belgrade as a stable Western Balkans hub ahead of EXPO 2027.
Invoking 1970—the last time a sitting US president visited Belgrade—Vučić said Trump would receive an exceptional welcome, framing closer ties as a new model for American-European cooperation from the Balkans.
Can Serbia's pro-American shift coexist with its EU aspirations and its strategic ties to Russia and China?
Will Serbia sacrifice its rich Jadar Valley to power Europe's green transition and forge a new alliance with Washington?