We talk about Joe Biden's visit to Belgrade

"This is important for us in the context of the implementation of the initiated infrastructure projects, such as the construction of the highway section from Nis to Merdar, the Balkan "mini-Schengen" initiative, which implies the construction of many connections between major economic centers throughout the region, which is extremely important for the further economic development of Serbia. The part related to the cultural heritage and the implementation of judgments regarding the property of the Visoki Decani monastery and respect for the property of the Serbian Orthodox Church is also very important ", says Marko Đurić.

How do you assess your stay in the USA so far?

For the past five months, which is how long I have been in America, my team and I have managed to organize a meeting with 26 members of Congress. We managed to organize events several times a week in our residence, which were attended by representatives of the State Department dealing with the issue of Serbia, as well as congressmen, businessmen and influential people. In recent months, the Serbian embassy has become a very active and popular address in Washington.

This year we mark the 140th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Serbia and the United States; what is the embassy of our country specifically doing to connect the two countries?

We do everything to make contact with as many people as possible. We are laying the foundations for building the long-term political infrastructure needed for strong relations between Serbia and the United States, which is a generational task that did not begin with me, but together with my team, I intend to bear that kind of responsibility in an agile and offensive way. That means I am ready to present our policy and vision of Serbia's development in a way that is acceptable to the American public, while retaining Serbian DNA, to present our policy in the American way, and I think we have succeeded in that so far. In a few months, we became one of the most active embassies from this part of the world in Washington, and that is visible and recognized by several influential high-level interlocutors in America. We are building a healthy and good Serbian Caucus, that is, the association of members of the American Congress, which are grouped according to common opinion, attitudes and principles.

What is the relationship between the Serbian embassy and the diaspora in the United States?

For the past three decades, the state has not been engaged in working with the diaspora since the break-up of the former Yugoslavia, which until 1991 dealt with the diaspora in an organized manner. We are now at the stage where we are building this from the ashes, from the beginning. Precise registers and records of the Serbian diaspora were not kept, not to mention regular and organized activity and communication. In the United States, there is a very influential and significant Serbian community that is present in various industries. We live in a new time where it is not enough just to gather on kebabs, but we also need to connect through digital platforms, both for economic cooperation and lobbying, just like other, more developed diasporas do.

What will specifically change?

All this will change radically and in the coming months we will work on building a digital platform that will aim to enable the connection of the Serbian diaspora in the United States and, above all, different generations, a diverse structure of the Serbian diaspora. On that occasion, I have already talked to some representatives of leading organizations in the United States. The most important thing is to connect and achieve practical cooperation in the realization of specific business ideas, but also, for example, learning the Serbian language online. It is also very important to organize remittances for the homeland at lower tariffs than is currently done through commercial banks. So, this is a very ambitious agenda for the development of a digital connection with our diaspora in the United States, which should be encouraged to be in contact with Serbia.

How do our people in the USA comment on the economic development of Serbia and the fact that we have economically transformed and attracted the most investors in the region?

This did not go unnoticed in the Serbian diaspora, they see the new perspective of Serbia, as evidenced by the increased number of applications for Serbian citizenship and obtaining passports. We explain to them what our economic strategy is and why, for example, our goal is to connect with other countries in the region after 30 years of everything that has happened in this part of Europe. We also explain why our economy will be among the top three in Europe and why we want to drive the entire region forward. Our vision is a region without borders. It is a story that everyone understands in Washington and that they are ready to support, and that is where our interests coincide.

Can US President Joseph Biden be expected to visit Serbia?

I do not miss a single day to point out in conversations with interlocutors from the USA that the last American president who visited Serbia while he was on duty was Jimmy Carter in 1980. It would be a great honor for us Serbs for a president of the United States to visit our capital while he is in office, with assurances that he would be welcomed very warmly and better in Belgrade than in some cities in Central and Eastern Europe. This would undoubtedly be a significant impetus for the development of bilateral relations between the United States and Serbia. I hope that President Biden will visit our country during his term, individually or as part of some of his European tours, and I will continue to discuss this with our American partners.

Do the United States support the continuation of the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina and what can be expected from Albin Kurti, who presents dangerous theses about the position of the property of the Serbian Orthodox Church?

In recent weeks, Kurti has shown a tendency towards a different and not overly constructive approach, even in relation to the suggestions of high representatives of the American administration. According to the talks we had in the previous weeks, the United States will support the efforts of the EU as the main and responsible actor, based on the mandate of the UN Security Council from 2011 for conducting the dialogue. Bearing in mind that since the beginning of the year, instead of suppressing violence, we have witnessed dozens of attacks on SOC property and messages about abolishing the endangered status of church property and Serbian holy places, this is a confirmation of immaturity and unwillingness to take responsibility for security and protection of holy places. This also shows Pristina's passionate political intention to use the position of our holy places to realize their separatist goals.

Source: Politika