Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on March 14 stressed the importance of the US presence in the region, a controversial message given the opposition of many Serbs, especially the pro-Russian contingent, to what they see as US interference. 

19 years after Nato’s three-month bombardment of Serbia, many Serbs still see the US as an enemy, especially as the US was one of the main champions of Kosovo’s independence from Serbia. Vucic was therefore voicing sentiments that many Serbs don’t like to hear — namely that if friendship is a step too far, a partnership with the US at least is needed for the country to prosper.

“People in Serbia should be aware that without the Americans we can’t manage the Kosovo problem or many other problems in the region,” Vucic said during a joint press conference with recently appointed US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Wess Mitchell. 

“Thinking that [resolving regional problems] is possible without influence from the American side … is naive and irresponsible.” 

Vucic acknowledged that on the Kosovo issue, the US’s and Serbia’s positions are “very distant and different”, but thanked Mitchell, who was on the second day of his visit to Serbia, for listening to what the Serbian side had to say. Belgrade has high hopes that the administration of Republican US President Donald Trump will lead to better relations with Washington, as the US Democratic party is seen as an unconditional supporter of Kosovo. 

However, still strong differences became apparent when the topic of the Kosovan government’s plans to set up its own army surfaced; the move has been fiercely opposed by Belgrade, and in the past criticised even by some of Pristina’s main supporters. 

“Kosovo has the right to form a professional force to deal with security and it would not be a threat to Serbia and Serbs,” Mitchell said, though added that changes to Kosovo’s constitution would be needed for this to happen, news portal B92 reported.

Vucic retorted by challenging him to “find one single paper, one single letter in some international act that says that is allowed”. “A Kosovo army goes against all international acts,” he added. 

Yet if Kosovo did go ahead and set up its own army, this would in the longer-term remove one of the sources of contention between Serbia and the US, as it would mean that US forces would no longer be present in Kosovo to maintain security. 

Vucic also took a more conciliatory tone at the press conference with Michell, saying that while Belgrade and Washington disagree on the formation of a Kosovan army, they definitely agree that peace has to be preserved and talks mediated by the EU must continue. 

He did hint at double standards in the western attitude to the two sides, criticising Kosovo’s failure to form an Association of Serbian Municipalities (ZSO), required as part of the normalisation process, and saying that if the Serbian side had failed to carry out their obligations “they would have been under huge pressure”. However, he concluded by saying that “talks with Mitchell were important and represent a step ahead because he showed huge respect for Serbia and its citizens”. 

Russian rivalry 

On first day of his visit to Belgrade, Mitchell met Serbia’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Minster of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic, a well-known pro-Russian politician. 

Dacic said that Serbia appreciated the US’s support and expressed an interest in continuing positive dynamics in the development of bilateral relations in the future as well. But he also presented Mitchell with a message from US President Woodrow Wilson published in the New York Times on June 19, 1918 entitled "Celebrate Kosovo as a day of honor” — making the point that the US had historically considered Kosovo to be part of Serbia. 

Belgrade has sought to balance between Russia and the West, declining to join western sanctions against Russia, although Vucic’s government has made EU accession its top priority. 

Russia is seen as Serbia’s ally and a true friend by many Serbs, largely because it refuses to recognise Kosovo as independent and uses its veto to prevent Kosovo from joining the US. This means that the Russian media is trusted by many people within Serbia. 

Pro-Russian media in Serbia poisoned the mood in the country ahead of Mitchell’s visit when they misquoted United States Army general Curtis Scaparrotti who currently serves as Supreme Allied Commander Europe of Nato Allied Command Operations as calling the Serbian nation “problematic and dangerous”. The reports are not borne out by the video of Scaparrotti’s March 8 testimony to the US Senate. 

In fact, Scaparrotti spoke briefly about Serbia in the context of Russian influence in the Balkans. “There is obviously a historical connection and affiliation but there is also because of that a better opportunity for Russian influence and [the Russians] take advantage of that in terms of disinformation, influence upon these populations, spoiling affect in some cases perhaps with Serbia in respect of Kosovo or within the tripartite government of Bosnia & Herzegovina. That’s my concern and I see it increase,” Scaparrotti said, according to the video on the website of the US Senate’s Armed Forces Committee.