BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) 鈥� Serbia鈥檚 President Aleksandar Vucic said he spoke with Donald Trump late Sunday, inviting him to visit the Balkan country while pointing out that in Serbia the had the highest level of support of all European states during the election campaign.
The populist Serbian leader said the phone call was 鈥渧ery cordial鈥� and added that Trump 鈥渒new many things about Serbia.鈥� He expressed hope the ties between Serbia and the United States will 鈥渇urther improve in all areas鈥� during the next Trump administration.
Vucic said on Instagram he "expressed hope that he (Trump) would visit Serbia, because Serbia is a country where support for the election of President Trump was the largest in all of Europe.鈥�
Vucic and other Serbian leaders had openly supported Trump during the campaign, hoping his Balkan policies would shift from the previous U.S. administration鈥檚 efforts to keep in check the expansionist goals of Serbian nationalists against neighboring states.
Although , Serbia has refused to introduce international sanctions against its over its invasion of Ukraine. Serbia has avoided major criticism in the West by that are exported through third countries.
Vucic said Trump thanked him for the support he received from the Serbian people and expressed his belief that he will be able to discuss further improvement of relations between the two countries in all fields with Trump in the coming period.
Serbia had maintained close relation with Trump鈥檚 associates even during Joe Biden鈥檚 administration.
Earlier this year, the Serbian government with Trump鈥檚 son-in-law Jared Kushner on plans to build a luxury hotel on the site of the former defense ministry in Belgrade. The downtown building was bombed during a NATO-led military intervention to stop a bloody Serb crackdown against Kosovo Albanian separatists in 1999.
The project, which has in Serbia, was reportedly proposed to Kushner by a former Trump aide and , who is said to be destined for high office in the new Trump administration.
Vucic decorated Grenell with a high medal of honor in 2023 for 鈥渄istinguished merit in developing and strengthening peaceful cooperation and friendly relations between Serbia and the U.S..鈥�
The Associated Press
