Serbia “punches above its weight” in culture and sports!
Serbia and the United States were on opposing sides during the challenging 1990s, but over time they have achieved good cooperation and formed a friendship. Serbia has become one of the main economic partners of the United States in this part of the world, but also a respected political factor. We have talked with Philip Beekman, Counselor for Public Affairs of the US Embassy, about the bilateral ties between the two countries.
Photo: Goran Zlatković
Over the last 21 years, the U.S. and Serbia have managed to transform their relations from adverse to friendly. What more can we do to enhance economic cooperation between the two countries?
The 1990s were a challenging time, but we have been working hard for many years to return our relationship to what it has been for the 140 years we have had bilateral relations – a positive and collaborative one. U.S.-Serbia economic relations are strong and getting ever stronger. We are working to help Serbia remove barriers to investment and supporting greater regional economic integration. By itself, Serbia is a relatively small market, but with its modern infrastructure, excellent geographic location, and highly educated workforce, Serbia has the potential to be the region’s economic leader and a hub for American businesses in the Balkans. American firms already employ well over 20,000 people in Serbia and have invested over $4 billion here. And more are investing every year. We were proud to welcome one of America’s largest food companies, Archer-Daniels-Midland, to Serbia with its recent investment in Sojaprotein, the region’s largest soy processing operation. And NCR – the world’s leader in enterprise technology for restaurants, retailers, and banks – opened its ultra-modern campus here last fall, a $100 million investment that employs 5,000. This is the kind of story we hope to see more and more of in the near future.
Are we going to see more American FDIs in Serbia and what should Serbia do to improve its economic environment to attract even more investors?
American companies are eager to invest in a stable country that is strongly connected – physically, economically, and in terms of values – with the rest of southeastern Europe and the massive market of the European Union. Continued reform in rule of law, judicial efficiency and transparency, as well as environmental protection will all be strong incentives for additional investment from the United States and other Western countries. We are seeing strong growth in American investment here, not just from high-tech companies, but also from agribusiness and even entertainment. Reversing the brain drain and continuing to make tangible steps toward EU accession will be key to sustaining this investment growth in the long term.
What can the two countries do to further improve their cultural cooperation?
There’s already a lot happening in this sector, despite all the complexities brought on by the pandemic. Hollywood studios are now spending millions here each year in partnership with Serbia’s film industry, a trend that was jump-started when USAID helped create the Serbian Film Commission a decade ago. We see regular cooperation between Serbian cultural organizations and festivals, featuring American artists. And, of course, the large and active Serbian diaspora in the United States means there is a wide range of informal cooperation. From the Embassy, we have rejuvenated our exchange programs, which send Serbian students, teachers, and professionals to the United States, and bring scholars, students, and experts to study and teach across Serbia.
“American companies are eager to invest in a stable country that is strongly connected – physically, economically, and in terms of values – with the rest of southeastern Europe and the massive market of the European Union”
Since we restarted exchange programs 20 years ago, over 2,500 Serbians have participated. And our exchanges go in both directions: for example, we have Americans teaching English all across Serbia, from Subotica to Novi Pazar. We are eager to restart in-person programming at our eight American Corners in Serbia, where Serbians can work on improving their English, join a book club, improve their leadership skills, or just enjoy an American film. The Embassy is also actively promoting university partnerships here to promote more cooperative research projects and student exchanges between Serbian and American universities
Americans are well acquainted with the Serbian athletes (like Jokić and Djoković) but how can they get better acquainted with Serbian musicians, writers and artists in general? American Corners have been doing a really good job in promoting American public figures in Serbia, but how can Serbia better present itself in front of Americans? How can the U.S. Embassy in Serbia help with that?
It’s a big world! But Serbia certainly “punches above its weight” in terms of global cultural and sports sensations. Your Ambassador in Washington – along with the two “sports ambassadors” that you mentioned – are doing great work presenting Serbia in a positive light in the United States. When we host Americans here, whether it is for a year-long exchange or as an expert speaker visiting for just a few days, they always leave with a positive impression of Serbian hospitality and a positive take on Serbia’s potential. There are a lot of great stories to share about Serbia and Serbian-American cooperation both here and in the U.S.
The world is facing a new global political crisis caused by the war in Ukraine and the Russian invasion. What will be the US administration’s next steps in this matter? Can the USA and other countries help the two warring sides to reach a peace agreement?
President Biden, along with our friends and partners from nearly every European country and democracies around the world, continues to call for an immediate ceasefire and for Russia to withdraw its forces from Ukraine. Putin started this war, and it is now up to him to stop it. Everyone wants a peaceful resolution.
A crisis caused by the rising inflation and soaring energy prices is looming now, as we are emerging out of an arduous two-year-long crisis induced by the COVID-19 pandemic. What is the U.S. going to do to mitigate the new crisis, which can give a serious blow to the economy that is already exhausted as a result of the coronavirus pandemic?
One thing we are trying to do is to help bring new financial tools to Serbia to help its small and medium-size businesses to survive and thrive, even amid a pandemic and inflation. The Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and USAID have been working for many months with the Ministry of Finance to launch a new loan guarantee program to help provide financing to smaller businesses so that they can keep working in difficult times.
“Serbia certainly “punches above its weight” in terms of global cultural and sports sensations. Your Ambassador in Washington – along with the two “sports ambassadors” that you mentioned – are doing great work presenting Serbia in a positive light in the United States”
We must also think about clean and secure energy for the future. I’m not an economist or a businessperson, but as someone who follows the news closely, I’d say that the United States has been sounding the alarm for months that a Russian invasion of Ukraine would cause serious economic consequences for Europe, including the Western Balkans, and for years that we all must focus more on energy security and energy independence. The United States has been helping by supporting new LNG terminals but also encouraging the use of green and renewable sources, such as wind, solar, and hydropower. Energy independence will not come overnight, but we must all work towards that long-term goal.
What can the U.S. administration do to help European countries, including Serbia, alleviate the consequences of the sanctions against Russia?
We can continue to stand together to convince Putin to immediately end his illegal invasion, respect international law, and allow people to live their lives in peace. The sanctions levied by the United States, the European Union, and many other democracies – including even by traditionally politically neutral countries, such as Switzerland – are urgent measures intended to help protect Ukraine by imposing costs on Putin and his close circle of oligarchs. Many Western businesses are also choosing to withdraw from the Russian market because of the risks of doing business in a country without the rule of law or any form of accountability or free press. In democracies with free and independent media environments, the public is aware of the true scale of Russia’s actions and is strongly unified in support of Ukraine.
The US Embassy has launched a high-profile campaign called ‘You Are the World’ which aims to reconcile former enemies. How would you rate the campaign’s success thus far?
The campaign was intended to start a conversation, and we are pleased with the heightened public awareness brought to those featured in the campaign. I don’t think many people in Serbia were aware of people like Walt Bogdanich, for example, who is the top investigative news editor for one of the best newspapers in the world, The New York Times. It was also wonderful to see how the campaign helped bring greater recognition to David Vuich, the last surviving member of the “Serbian Apollo 7,” an amazing group of Serbian Americans who helped put a man on the moon.
“The 140 years of official relations between our countries has many more bright spots than both Americans and Serbians might realize. I hope this effort helps make both of our countries prouder of these relations”
We were honored to see Mr. Vuich receive the Star of Karadjordje 50 years after the moon landing, just weeks after this segment was broadcast through the campaign. The 140 years of official relations between our countries has many more bright spots than both Americans and Serbians might realize. I hope this effort helps make both of our countries prouder of these relations.
What will be the priorities of the new U.S. Ambassador’s agenda?
By the time this is printed, Ambassador Hill will likely have arrived, so I will let him speak about his priorities. However, I can say that at the Embassy we are excited to work with such an experienced diplomat and support his vision to grow our bilateral ties and see the U.S.-Serbia relationship prosper like never before.