 | |
 Serbia |  United States |
|---|---|
| Diplomatic mission | |
| Embassy of Serbia, Washington, D.C. | Embassy of the United States, Belgrade |
| Envoy | |
| AmbassadorDragan Šutanovac | AmbassadorAlexander Titolo (Chargé d'affaires) |
Serbia and theUnited States maintain diplomatic relations established in 1882.[1] From 1918 to 2006, the United Statesmaintained relations with theKingdom of Yugoslavia, theSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY), and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) (laterSerbia and Montenegro), of which Serbia is consideredshared (SFRY) or sole (FRY) legalsuccessor.[2]
At the end of the 19th century, the United States sought to take advantage of theOttoman Empire's retreat from theBalkans by establishing diplomatic relations with the region's newly emerged nation states, among which was Serbia. The two countries wereallies during World War I. After the war, Serbia united withMontenegro and territories previously held byAustria-Hungary to create a unified South Slavic state that would come to be known as Yugoslavia. The country had diplomatic relations with the United States up to the start of World War II. DuringWorld War II in Yugoslavia, the United States initially supported the Serbian royalistChetniks over their rivals, thecommunistPartisans.[3] The Chetniks ultimately lost out to the Partisans and Yugoslavia became a single-party communist state with Partisan leaderJosip Broz Tito at its head. In the immediate aftermath of the war, Yugoslavia and the United States had little diplomatic relations. The end of the war also resulted in the mass emigration of refugees from Yugoslavia, many of whom were Serbs that ended up moving to the United States. This helped create the first majorSerbian diaspora in the United States. Some of the Serbian refugees who settled in the United States after World War II were anti-communist exiles who attempted to undermine Tito during the Cold War, using the United States as a venue for their anti-communist aims.
During thebreakup of Yugoslavia, the United States engaged in both combative and economic conflict, particularly with Serbia, known at the time as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (one of socialist Yugoslavia's successor states). The United States imposed sanctions and spearheaded aNATO bombing campaign against Yugoslavia in 1999. During this period, another wave of Serbian emigration ensued, and many Serbian refugees moved to the United States. In the 2000s, diplomatic relations between the United States and Yugoslavia were restored, but were changed whenMontenegro seceded in 2006, after which Serbia was the successor state to continue relations previously held by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008, a move which the US recognized.
The first Serbian settlers to the United States came toLouisiana in the 1830s, largely from theBay of Kotor and theDalmatian coast. Further settlers were attracted by theCalifornia gold rush of 1848.[4] One of the first Serb immigrants was the settlerGeorge Fisher, who fought in theTexan Revolution and was appointed a judge, having previously served in the Serbian revolutionary forces during theFirst Serbian Uprising.[5][6] Towards the latter part of the 19th century, Serbs sought opportunities in the northeast, midwest and far west, which became the centers of immigration by the 1940s.[4]
Diplomatic relations between the then-Kingdom of Serbia and the United States were established in the 19th century. In 1879, the Serbian Consulate-General in New York was opened. On February 3, 1882, the Serbian Parliament adopted a contract and convention of diplomatic relations between the Kingdom of Serbia and the United States, given by KingMilan Obrenović. TheUnited States Senate adopted both documents on July 5, 1882 without debate or amendments. On November 10, 1882,Eugene Schuyler became the first United States ambassador in Serbia.[1]
In 1894, a visit of a group of 40 US tourists to Belgrade during their European tour attracted significant public attention in Serbian capital.[7] The guests were welcomed by the US consul and numerous citizens after which they visited major attractions and spent an evening in a garden with music.[7]
After the participation of the United States inWorld War I,[8] US presidentWoodrow Wilson issued hisFourteen Points as a list of prioritized negotiations to end the war. Wilson's tenth point asserted that the peoples living inAustria Hungary should independently decide their fates after the war, directly contradicting theBritish government's post-war vision of a surviving Austria-Hungary.[9] Wilson's eleventh point more specifically involved Serbia, explicitly stating that Serbia be guaranteed open access to theAdriatic Sea.[9] During the negotiations for theTreaty of Versailles, the United States were represented by a delegation which was heavily involved in defining the borders for the newKingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. During the process of defining new borders, The Kingdom of Serbia selectedJovan Cvijić to show maps to the American delegation in an effort to persuade them to endorse the acquisition ofBaranya, eastBanat, and other regions previously ruled by Austria Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania. Likewise, the American delegation also faced the lobby of Serbia's neighboring countries, and for the most part endorsed the allocation of Baranya to Hungary and most of Banat to Romania, in contrast to Cvijić's proposals.[10]
Serbian students began studying in the US after World War I. The International Serbian Educational Committee was founded by professor Rosalie Slaughter Morton in 1919, and it was soon made official by the Ministry of Education. Morton was the first woman professor of gynecology in New York and she sought to "pay her respect, gratitude and admiration" for Serbia's role in the war.[11] Total of 61 students (mostly from modern-day Serbia) were enrolled in the first generation. Various American colleges were made available for free studying to Serb students as a sign of good will and partnership. Such actions were only one aspect of generally good relations between the two nations on all fields at the time.[11]
American films made up over 50 percent of foreign showings in Yugoslav cinemas in the 1930s, withCharlie Chaplin being a favourite of the Belgrade public.[12] During the same period,Jazz music became popular and several American musicians played in Belgrade, such asArthur Rubinstein.[13]
During theWorld War II in Yugoslavia, the United States initially supported the royal government of Yugoslavia. When theNazis invaded Yugoslavia in the spring of 1941, the United States provided large amounts of support to theChetniks in the first years of the war. This support took place in the form of extensive clandestine relations between theOffice of Strategic Services and Chetniks withWilliam Donovan's administration.[3][14] Such cooperation was highlighted by complex operations such asOperation Halyard, in which several hundred American pilots were rescued by Chetniks.[3]
However, OSS support for the Chetniks was compromised by the British government'sMI6 policy of favoring theYugoslav Partisans instead of the Chetniks. In 1943, theUS government's support for the Chetniks over theYugoslav Partisans was such that presidentFranklin D. Roosevelt discussed withWinston Churchill in a private conversation that he imagined that Yugoslavia's boundaries would be completely redrawn into three separate states, withPeter II being the monarch of an independent Serbian kingdom at the end of the war.[15] TheUSAF and theRAF beganbombing Belgrade in April 1944 when they came to the conclusion that theNazi occupation could not be removed by Serbian resistance alone.[citation needed]
The United States intelligence circles gradually conceded its influence on Yugoslav guerrilla operations to the British. At the end of the war, PresidentHarry S. Truman dedicated aLegion of Merit to Chetnik leaderDraža Mihailović, but the award wasn't revealed publicly until 2005.[16][17][18]
After the end of World War II, theFederal People's Republic of Yugoslavia (FNRJ) was formed. One of the first diplomatic contacts made with the new communist government was theUS Department of State's request for the US Army to testify at theMihailović trial.[19] However, the request was shunned and early relations between the United States and the government ofJosip Broz Tito became strained, as American diplomats were furious over Mihailović's execution in 1946.[20][21] Relations degraded even further a month later, when two USAFC-47 Skytrain cargo aircraft were shot down over Yugoslavia in the space of two weeks.[22] More USAF aircraft were shot down overYugoslavia up to 1948.[23] As a result,U.S. senatorThomas Dodd staunchly opposed American financial aid to Tito's government,[24] even saying that "Tito had bloodied hands." In one of Josip Broz Tito's early visits to the United States, protesters inSan Pedro drowned an effigy of him.[25] Following the Second World War into 1961, the United States operated a Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) and many Yugoslavian officers received American training. Along with receiving many American weapons, Yugoslavia received US$600 million in military aid.[26]
The communist governments in Europe deferred to Stalin and rejectedMarshall Plan aid from the United States in 1947. At first, Tito went along and rejected the Marshall plan. However, in 1948 Tito broke decisively with Stalin on other issues, making Yugoslavia an independent communist state. Yugoslavia then requested American aid. American leaders were internally divided, but finally agreed and began sending money on a small scale in 1949, and on a much larger scale 1950–53. The American aid was not part of the Marshall Plan.[27]
Yugoslavia began opening more diplomatic dialogue to western nations after theTito–Stalin split, which assured that Yugoslavia was not to become a member of theWarsaw Pact.Pan American World Airways launched direct flights from New York to Belgrade in 1963.[28] On 1 January 1967, Yugoslavia was the first communist state to open its borders to all foreign visitors and abolish visa requirements.[29] The regular commercial air travel between the United States and Yugoslavia then saw the launching ofJAT Yugoslav Airlines flights to the United States, effectively competing with Pan Am.[30][31] Trade opportunities reopened between the United States and Yugoslavia, and American businesses began exporting to Yugoslavia. Likewise, by the 1980s Yugoslavia was even exporting many of its manufactured automobiles fromZastava Automobili's assembly line inKragujevac to the United States. U.S. presidentJimmy Carter discussed issues regardingPalestine andEgypt with Tito and referred to him as a "great world leader".[32] Subsequently, theReagan administration presented their policies towards Yugoslavia in aSecret Sensitive 1984National Security Decision DirectiveNSDD 133. "U.S. Policy towards Yugoslavia." A censored version declassified in 1990 elaborated on NSDD 54 on Eastern Europe, issued in 1982. The latter advocated "efforts to expand U.S. economic relations with Yugoslavia in ways which will benefit both countries" serving as "a useful reminder to countries in Eastern Europe of the advantages of independence from Moscow".
For much of the socialist period, the United States was a haven for many Serbian anti-communists living outside Yugoslavia. On 20 June 1979, a Serbian nationalist namedNikola Kavaja hijackedAmerican Airlines Flight 293 from New York City with the intention of crashing theBoeing 707 intoLeague of Communists of Yugoslaviaheadquarters in Belgrade.[33] The aircraft, however, landed inShannon, Ireland, where Kavaja was arrested.[34]
A group of six Serbian nationalists, among themBoško Radonjić, placed a home-made bomb in the home of the Yugoslav consulate in Chicago in 1975.[35] Radonjić later became the leader ofthe Westies gang in New York City, where he participated inorganized crime andracketeering.[36] He eventually became one of the most feared gangsters in the New York City underworld, and developed extensive friendships withVojislav Stanimirović,John Gotti and theGambino family. AfterSammy Gravano turned John Gotti in to theFederal Bureau of Investigation in December 1990, Radonjić was highly suspected to have attempted tofix the trial on John Gotti's behalf.[37] As a result of this, Radonjić was arrested in December 1999 during a spectacular rerouted plane going to Cuba to a lockdown atMiami International Airport when he was tracked down by the FBI.[38] He was arrested in the United States again in January 2000 for further investigation of the 1992 Gotti trial.[39] Upon release in 2001, he left the United States and moved back to Serbia where he lived until his death in 2011.[40] He was also an admirer and long-time friend ofRadovan Karadžić until the latter went into hiding in 1996.[41]
In the 1980s,Vojislav Šešelj taught political science at theUniversity of Michigan[42] after being expelled by the League of Communists of Yugoslavia in 1981.[43] In June 1989, he traveled to the United States again to meet withMomčilo Đujić inSan Marcos, California, where Đujić named himChetnik Vojvoda (duke in Serbian).[44][45][46] He went on to form theSerbian Radical Party in 1991[47] and was accused by theICTY tribunal of leading theBeli Orlovi militants inBosnia and Herzegovina and in war-stateRepublic of Serbian Krajina.[48]Radovan Karadžić pursued post-graduate medical studies atColumbia University from 1974 to 1975,[49] but did so without any specific political agenda at the time being; he later became the war-time president of theRepublika Srpska during theBosnian War and subsequently went into hiding in Serbia until his capture in 2008 forICTY charges ofwar crimes andgenocide.[50]
The first form of sanctions initiated by the US against Yugoslavia took place already from 1990 as the Nickels Amendment, which was sponsored by senatorsDon Nickles andBob Dole. The amendment was passed due to concerns about Albanians being arrested in Kosovo.[51] The amendment officially came into legal effect from May 6, 1992; although it applied only to $5 million-worth of US foreign aid, it was reported as instrumental in denying SFR Yugoslavia its last application forIMF loans before its breakup and hyperinflation episode.[52]
Thebreakup of Yugoslavia began in 1992, the territories consisting of Serbia, Montenegro, and Kosovo composed theFederal Republic of Yugoslavia. In the midst of theYugoslav Wars, the United States as well as an overwhelming majority of states from theUnited Nations severed economic ties and imposed sanctions on FR Yugoslavia on May 30, 1992.[53][54]
The Yugoslav government of the newly formedFR Yugoslavia (one ofsuccessors to SFR Yugoslavia) ended up having three ideologically-opposed leaders occupying executive positions. From 1992, while Slobodan Milošević was the president of Serbia, national theoristDobrica Ćosić was named President of FR Yugoslavia. Meanwhile,Milan Panić, a business magnate based inNewport Beach, California, accepted Milošević's invitation to be Prime Minister of FR Yugoslavia.[55] Panić was subsequently elected as prime minister in the1992 Yugoslav parliamentary elections. The United States did not revoke Panić's citizenship even though his occupation of an executive position in the Yugoslav government clearly contradicted theUnited States Constitution.[56] Nevertheless, Panić would become a person of interest in US diplomatic circles, given his business and residence backgrounds. At aCSCE meeting in Helsinki in July 1992, US Secretary of StateJames Baker abruptly dismissed Panić's appeal to reduce the sanctions to Yugoslavia, even after an agreement (between Panić, Milošević, andDušan Mitević) was reached by which Milošević would resign in return for sanction-relief. This ended up severely damaging Panić's unique diplomatic position internationally, as well as his standing in Yugoslavia. TheLos Angeles Times published an article which described Panić as a doubtful upholder of potential American-Yugoslavian peacemaking,[57] when in fact, many years later made to be known, Panić was actually invited by Baker in the first place rather than voluntarily coming to Helsinki.[58]
Panić and former US ambassador to Yugoslavia John Douglas Scanlan cooperated on a deep level[59] in a campaign to challenge conservative politicians which echoed Baker's disapproval of giving Yugoslavia sanctions-relief in return for Milošević's planned resignation. One of Panić's advisors, academic Ljubiša Rakić, was dispatched to explain toLarry Eagleburger that the H.W. Bush administration was mistaken in seeing Panić as a Milošević puppet. Eagleburger replied, "Don't worry, we are going to do our own thing".[60]
The three-pronged government lasted only from May to December 1992, as Panić and Ćosić decided to challenge Milošević ininstitutionally-revised elections in December that same year. The December election ended up as a failure for the opposition to Milošević, as Ćosić pulled out of the campaign in the last moment due to health problems. Multiple politicians of the opposition parties criticized the US-instigated fossil-fuel sanctions in the midst of a cold 1992–93 winter, saying that they actually further helped sympathy for Milošević and not against him.[61]
On November 21, 1995, Serbian president Slobodan Milošević travelled to the United States to sign theDayton Peace Accords withCroatian presidentFranjo Tuđman andBosnian presidentAlija Izetbegović nearDayton, Ohio. Months later, sanctions against Yugoslavia were finally lifted in October 1996.[62]
In 1997, a group of 17 economists wrote a letter titled "Program Radikalnih Ekonomskih Reformi u Jugoslaviji", advocating liberal macroeconomic policy by creating alarming predictions of the Yugoslav economy from 1998 to 2010.[63] Not by coincidence, the letter was first published byB92, arguably the most West-friendly media outlet in Yugoslavia at the time.[64] This would be the base for what would become a highly controversial political party in Serbia,G17 Plus, which began as anNGO funded by theNational Endowment for Democracy.[65] The original writers of the 1997 letter subsequently divided, as some either shunned or even criticized G17's fundamentals, whereas others would end up occupying positions in the post-Milošević government from 2000.[64]
The United States reinstated sanctions against Yugoslavia in March 1998 when theKosovo War started.[66] Shortly after the controversies atRačak andRambouillet, American diplomatRichard Holbrooke traveled to Belgrade in March 1999 to deliver the final ultimatum requesting entry of UN forces into Kosovo and Serbia with full freedom from persecution under Serbian law for the intervening force.[67] Milošević rejected the ultimatum, and the United States completely severed ties with Yugoslavia on March 23, 1999. Bill Clinton became the first president to declare war while bypassing aCongressional majority.[68] The establishment of the bombing campaign was contested by one of the tightest voting margins in the entire history of theHouse of Representatives (213–213).[69] Out of all the territories in Yugoslavia at the time, Serbia was bombed the most due to its concentration of military targets.[70][71] As a result of Slobodan Milošević granting entry toKFOR in Kosovo, thewar against Yugoslavia ceased on June 10, 1999.[72]
A group namedOtpor!, originally formed by students in 1998 with the financial assistance ofUSAID,International Republican Institute, andNED, was one of multiple significant participants in theBulldozer Revolution, from which Milošević was overthrown.[73]USAID donated over $30 million for Otpor to "purchase cell phones and computers for DOS's leadership and to recruit and train an army of 20,000 election monitors" as well as to supplement them with "a sophisticated marketing campaign with posters, badges and T-shirts."[74] In 2013, several media outlets reported that aCIA operative, Francis Archibald, participated in the organization of the October 5 coup, citing anAssociated Press article which said that the overthrow was "regarded inside the CIA as a blueprint for running a successful peaceful covert action".[75][76][77]
After theBulldozer Revolution on October 5, 2000, the United States reestablished a diplomatic presence in Belgrade.[78] The new president,Vojislav Koštunica, was initially lukewarm about talks with the US and ruled out a meeting with President Clinton or a visit by Secretary of StateMadeleine Albright.[79] US sanctions against FR Yugoslavia were lifted in January 2001[80] but the United States under theBush administration denied giving any aid to Yugoslavia even several months after UN sanctions were lifted[81] until Koštunica promised to cooperate with demands fromThe Hague regarding theSlobodan Milošević trial.[82]
After Milošević was arrested by the police under the new Yugoslav government, theUnited States pressured Yugoslavia to extradite Milošević to theICTY or lose financial aid from theInternational Monetary Fund andWorld Bank.[83] In March 2001, American economistJoseph Stiglitz traveled to Belgrade to talk to a prominent Democratic Opposition leader,Zoran Đinđić, about the potential consequences of IMF-sponsored austerity.[84] Koštunica denounced the extradition of his predecessor to theHague Tribunal, which he saw as an instrument of U.S. foreign policy, and opposed NATO involvement inKosovo.[85]
On June 25, 2001, Stiglitz published a paper, "Serbia's Advantages in Coming Late", about the necessity for Serbia not to rush privatization and not to pursue "shock therapy", which was the established macroeconomic advice of theBretton Woods institutions.[86] Đinđić, however, did not live long to analyze the advice of the Bretton Woods institutions or the anti-austerity plan of Stiglitz, as he wasassassinated on March 12, 2003. TheG17 Plus got into an intense standoff with the Serbian government, composed mostly byDOS, due to the fact that G17 Plus continuously lobbied for the dissolution of the state union ofSerbia and Montenegro.[87] Later, in May 2006,Montenegro declared independence fromthe Serbo-Montenegrin state union; the United States immediately respected the results and urged the new government inPodgorica to keep close ties with Serbia.[88] The United States recognized Serbia as the official successor state of theSerbia and Montenegro and the preceding Yugoslav state.[89]
Outside of fiscal policy, American influence was evident in executive positions. In September 2002, it was announced that the Military Court in Belgrade was to press charges againstMomčilo Perišić, who was the vice president of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia at the time, for espionage in the favour of theCIA.[90] The trial never took place, although upon his release from The Hague on February 28, 2013, it was announced by Perišić's lawyer Novak Lukić that his client was "ready to be judged" on the same 2002 accusations of espionage.[91] In 2022, after a long process and a first-instance verdict, the Court of Appeal issued a verdict according to which Perišić was guilty of espionage and sentenced to 4 years in prison.[92]
On February 15, 2008, it was announced that the pro-WesternBoris Tadić won the2008 Serbian presidential election. The 2008 elections were particularly important to Serbia's relations with the United States, as the main challenging party which lost the election,SRS, disintegrated whenTomislav Nikolić split withVojislav Šešelj over integration into theEuropean Union. When Nikolić split from SRS and began pursuing a pro-European profile (a reversal from SRS's eurosceptic position), he was being advised by American lobbying firmQuinn Gillespie & Associates.[93]
Only a few days after this election result, thedeclaring of independence by Kosovo spurred offwidespread unrest in Serbia, during which the embassy of the United States was evacuated and then torched by a mob.[94][95] One man of Serbian nationality was killed inside of the embassy during the unrest.[96] Serbia temporarily withdrew its ambassador fromWashington, D.C., but the U.S. embassy in Belgrade was closed only for several days. AmbassadorCameron Munter said that no degrading of relations were expected regardless of the unrest.[97]
On 19 April 19 2012, shortly before the2012 Serbian parliamentary andpresidential election, former New York City mayorRudy Giuliani traveled to Belgrade to attend a news conference with theSNS candidate for Belgrade mayor,Aleksandar Vučić.[98][99] The US Embassy to Serbia released a statement saying that Giuliani's appearance did not represent the United States endorsing any candidate in Serbia's parliamentary upcoming election.[100] The incumbent Belgrade mayor at the time,Dragan Đilas, slammed the conference which Giuliani attended, telling press that "Giuliani should not speak about Belgrade's future as a man who supported the bombing of Serbia."[101]
The2012 Serbian parliamentary andpresidential elections both took place on May 6, 2012. The result ended with the removal of the incumbentDS-led coalition from the parliament majority, and the loss of incumbentBoris Tadić toSerbian Progressive Party candidateTomislav Nikolić. On July 3, 2012, the US government sentPhilip Reeker to Belgrade, who participated in an undisclosed discussion withMlađan Dinkić of theUnited Regions of Serbia party in his first day there.[102] Reeker subsequently talked toČedomir Jovanović,Ivica Dačić,Aleksandar Vučić, andTomislav Nikolić. The contents of the discussions were not disclosed to journalists, as they were repeatedly shunned when asking about Reeker's mission in Serbia.[102] Reeker's meetings with the leaders of various parties shortly after the election resulted in speculation on the United States overtly forming a coalition in the Serbian government. In one instance, professor Predrag Simić from theUniversity of Belgrade Faculty of Political Sciences claimed that Reeker's visit to Belgrade in July 2012 was an attempt to create a parliamentary coalition betweenDemocratic Party and Serbian Progressive Party, as opposed to the Serbian Progressive Party-SPS bloc which had been composed by the election results.[103]
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In spite of the claim, the victorious SNS kept SPS as a coalition partner. However, United Regions of Serbia ultimately joined the ruling coalition,[104] whose leader Dinkić was the first party leader Reeker spoke to in his July 2012 trip.[102] Overall, the election ultimately resulted in the defeat ofDS as they became the largest parliamentary opposition to SNS. The newly elected government ultimately continued Euro-Atlantic integration programs pursued by the Tadić administration.
According to the 2012 U.S. Global Leadership Report, only 20% of Serbian public approved of U.S. leadership, with 57% disapproving and 22% uncertain, the fifth-lowest rating for any surveyed European country that year.[105]
Ahead of the2016 presidential election in the United States, Vučić attended theClinton Foundation's Global Initiative Annual Meeting held in September 2016.[106] In the meeting, Vučić participated in a discussion about the relationship between Serbs and Bosniaks inBosnia and Herzegovina with the former mayor ofSrebrenica, Ćamil Duraković.[107] The discussion was moderated by Bill Clinton.[107] Subsequently, former Trump campaign consultantRoger Stone alleged on anInfoWars episode that the government of Serbia paid $2 million for attending the Clinton Foundation's meeting.[108] Before his appearance at the Clinton Foundation forum, Vučić was interviewed by Gorislav Papić from Serbian TV showOko ("Eye" in Serbian).[108] When Papić asked Vučić why he appeared in the Clinton Foundation meeting in September 2016, Vučić asked Papić, "what, you want to get into a conflict with Hillary Clinton?"[109] Vučić insisted that he was neutral in the US election in spite of his appearance at the Clinton Foundation meeting, adding that "Serbia is a small country to take sides of decisions made by Americans".[109]
On October 4, 2019, U.S. President Donald Trump appointedRichard Grenell as the Special Presidential Envoy forSerbia–Kosovo negotiations.[110] After months of diplomatic talks, on January 20, 2020 Serbia and Kosovo agreed to restore flights between Belgrade and Pristina for the first time in over 20 years.[111][112]
On September 4, 2020 the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, and the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Avdullah Hoti,signed an agreement on thenormalisation of economic relations between Serbia and Kosovo at theWhite House.[113] The deal will encompass freer transit, including by rail and road, while both parties agreed to work with theExport–Import Bank of the United States and theU.S. International Development Finance Corporation and to join theOpen Balkan regional initiative, but the agreement also included the relocation of the Serbian embassy to Jerusalem, as well as, and mutual recognitionbetween Israel and Kosovo.[114][115]
The United States is Serbia's major trading partner in the Western hemisphere. Trade between two countries amounted to$1.26 billion in 2022 with American merchandise exports to Serbia at $725 million while Serbian exports stood at $521 million.[116]
As of 2023, more than 250 American companies are present in Serbia employing approximately 22,000 workers and in last two decades they invested over $5 billion in the country.[117][118]Blue-chip American corporations present in Serbia includePepsiCo,Philip Morris,Molson Coors,Archer Daniels Midland,Goodyear, andBall. The United States is the primary partner of Serbia in the ICT industry, with likes ofMicrosoft,AMD, andNCR having their development centers in Belgrade.
Serbianflag carrierAir Serbia operates flights between Belgrade andNew York City as well as Belgrade andChicago.[119][120]
There is a sizable Serbiandiaspora in the United States; according to data from the 2023American Community Survey, 181,469 people stated that they had Serb ancestry (whether alone or in combination with another ancestry), out of which 42,968 were Serbia-born.[121][122] The Serbian American community is concentrated inGreat Lakes region, with major hubs inChicago,Cleveland, andMilwaukee metro areas.
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This article incorporatespublic domain material fromU.S. Bilateral Relations Fact Sheets.United States Department of State.
Media related toRelations of Serbia and the United States at Wikimedia Commons
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