United States Vice President Joe Biden is finishing off his one-day visit to Belgrade and will soon be tucked up in his hotel room before heading down to Kosovo tomorrow. He arrived at Belgrade Airport just before 10am and was met by Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic and was then given the red carpet treatment by President Boris Tadic at the Palace of Serbia (former SIV building) in New Belgrade, where the Serbian and American flags fluttered in the wind side by side, the US national anthem was played and Joe Biden saluted the Serbian flag.
After holding talks with Tadic and delivering a joint press conference, he was driven to downtown Belgrade to lay a wreath at the spot where former Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic was assassinated in 2003, narrowly avoiding a visit to the Parliament building where the Serbian Radical Party had set up a ‘welcome party‘, brandishing signs saying Biden was a “Nazi” and a “fascist” and that he should “go home” – probably for the best that he didn’t see that. After meeting some more officials, Biden and Tadic were understandably peckish and wound down the evening with an official dinner.
Who knows what was actually said behind closed doors, but the message received today publicly from Biden was that the US does not expect Serbia to recognise Kosovo’s independence and that such recognition should not be a precondition for Serbia’s EU membership, which the US will support, or for forging US-Serbia relations.
The other message received today was that some Belgraders weren’t particularly happy with the near state of emergency imposed on Belgrade because of high security measures: hundreds of police blocked off roads in New Belgrade and the city centre, traffic was cleared, snipers were everywhere, bridges were closed and public gathering were banned. Some parts were off limits to pedestrians, even to the governor of the National Bank of Serbia who had to walk round the long way like everyone else, and when I tried to enter the main 24 hour pharmacy in the centre, I was abruptly told by a policeman, “It’s not working today, go elsewhere.” I’m sure Biden will receive a much more enthusiastic welcome in Kosovo on Thursday.
Regardless of what some Serbs (or anyone else) may think of Joe Biden and relatively recent US-led actions in Serbia, this visit is a definite sign that the US wants to rebuild relations with and to help Serbia – something which, in my opinion, coming from the the most powerful nation on the Earth, should not be too hastily rejected.
What do you think of US VP Joe Biden’s visit to Belgrade today? Do you think he should have stayed away or should Serbia welcome the US’s offer of friendly partnership? Let us know by leaving a comment.
Enjoyed this post? Subscribe to Balkan File via RSS or e-mail.
on May 20th, 2009 at 10:28 pm
The author’s comment on Serbian welcome is not entirely true. People in Serbia are not enthusiastic about the visit, but ignorant. We are open-minded and the world should realise it once for goods. We don’t hate the USA which made a lot of mistakes as we did. No one is perfect. Our reactions are natural. We, strongly, hope that Serbia with all its values will be recognized as normal as other European countries. People overseas should come here and see the right side which is not advertised neither by those who don’t understand us nor by those who favour us. Speaking of Kosovo, I must admit that that region is doomed to chaos and we live better without it. Thanks the USA for taking it away from us!( I am not ironical).
on May 21st, 2009 at 8:24 am
@Serbian Youth
I don’t think I called Serbs ignorant – I’d be the one of the last people to do so.
I agree with you in wishing more people would come and visit Serbia for themselves, something which more and more people from the West are doing – and more often than not they leave with a positive impression of Serbia and its people.
on May 21st, 2009 at 9:54 am
In my opinion ( if the message delivered by Biden is the one written by Adam, namely the US support for Serbian EU perspective) it was a positive action.
Europe is failing with the Balkans (and not only here unfortunately), the visa system is shamefull (how such a small “orange” country that I prefer not to mention can stop the serbian way to Brussels? Unbelieveble!), so that the US support could prove finally decisive.
@youth: what do you mean with ignorant?
Pozdrav iz italije
Leave a Comment