How the U.S. and Trump hung by retired American General

At a face-to-face meeting between a retired US Army general and Serbian President Aleksandar Vuciq testified to what course Serbia takes when it comes to negotiations with Kosovo.

Last year, retired US General Ben Hodges, who has been commander of American forces in Europe, has received an interesting request from Serbian authorities; it was invited to meet Serbian President, writes BIRN.

Hodges, who accepted Vuciqi's request, was unclear why the Serbian president wanted to meet him. That's why a Serbian conversationor had asked him, and the answer was “Wucciq there is no one to talk to”.

The former commander was expecting an official meeting with Vucinqi to some extent a ceremony, but the opposite occurred. The Serbian president had organised a closed meeting, only between the two, and had not even held verbal processes. The meeting took place in mid-May.

Hodges has gone to Belgrade just days after US President Donald Trump received Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to the White House. Vuciq had attended this event, and told former American General “without considering what he thinks of President Trump, this is a huge thing for the entire region, for a prime minister of a small state like Hungary to have the opportunity to meet with American President”.

According to Vucinqi, that meeting was a good sign that the US is interested in the Balkans.

Vuciq has told Hodges that he feels pressured on all sides for Kosovo's issue. According to the former American commander, Vuciqi needs to demonstrate to the Serbian people how negotiations with Kosovo for normalisation will require a sacrifice “on Serbia's side.

It's not negotiation if you don't lose something, so you have to have something to testify to why you've surrendered. So the idea of Western integration is very serious”, Hoxhas comments.

He emphasises that Vuciq is embarrassed by pressure both inside and outside Serbia regarding dialogue with Kosovo.

“From the vitza I realized that he [Vuciq] is clearly under great pressure from the Kremlin, the Serbian Orthodox Church, veterans' organisations and others...”, Hoxhas said.

As Vuciq has told the former commander, he admires Trump, with whom they have held their hands about four times. With Trump, Vucinqi can make the difference by the US, as he has not been involved in policies of the 1990s, which led to Serbia's bombing and US recognition of Kosovo in 2008.

Vuciq grieves Serbia's dismissal by young people, so he wants economic agreements, which would freeze the state economically.

Richard Grenelli, emissary of the Trump for Kosovo Dialogue Serbia, has seen these applications of Vuciqi and wants to satisfy what the Serbian president wants, in exchange for normalising reports between Kosovo and Serbia.