11 October 2022

The new building of the Serbian embassy in Washington was opened at a ceremony attended by about 200 distinguished guests.

On this occasion, Ambassador Marko Đurić said that he was happy and proud that the embassy building was opened in the vicinity of the White House, and noted that, thanks to Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikola Selaković and government efforts, this best reflected a progressive and prosperous Serbia that is a friend of the USA and other partners worldwide.

Ambassador Đurić pointed out that the opening of the embassy was a crowning achievement of the efforts made over the past two years to bring the two countries closer, and noted that in that period the Serbian caucus doubled in membership and that economic cooperation had been substantially improved, as well as that discussions have been opened in a number of important areas, such as security, culture and sports.

“In the future, we will correct mistakes and things that were wrong in the past. For that reason, the choir made up of Serbian children in national costumes, who performed the Serbian and American national anthems at the Serbian embassy in Washington, speaks of the past as well as the future of Serbian-American relations,” Đurić said.

Speaking at the ceremony, Serbian Parliament Speaker Vladimir Orlić, said that positive examples of cooperation from the history of Serbian-American relations should be highlighted, in order to correct the wrong perceptions that have been created over the past decades.

“Serbia is today developing its ties with the US based on mutual respect and understanding, and we expect Serbia-US cooperation to be taken to a higher level also in formal terms through establishment of strategic bilateral dialogue,” Orlić said.

Expressing her satisfaction with the improvement of cooperation in the field of culture, the Vice-President of the Government of Serbia and the Minister of Culture and Information, Maja Gojković, stated that it is important to present the contemporary Serbian art scene in the USA, a country that is the birthplace of many modern ideas and trends in art.

The first lady of Serbia Tamara Vučić also spoke at the ceremony and reminded that many distinguished Serbs participated in the creation and development of the USA and still do today, so that we can also talk about the Serbian contribution to the creation of the American dream.

According to her, Serbia and the USA have been together throughout history, sharing the same ideals and values, and that this obliges us today to build a stronger structure for future cooperation.

“Let the new Serbian embassy building in the USA be the place where new bridges of cooperation will be built, deepening the Serbian-American historical ties,” Tamara Vučić said.

US Special Envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, and Commander of the Ohio National Guard, Major General John Harris also attended the opening ceremony.

Major General Harris noted that the opening of the new Serbian embassy in Washington symbolizes the opening of a new era in bilateral relations.

“As a diplomat, I am very happy that our relations are developing in the right direction, but as an American, I am also proud to say that people from Serbia and the Balkans have made a great contribution to the development of this country,” Escobar said.

Major General Harris said that Serbia and the USA share values ​​in many aspects, and that Serbia can count on him and the Ohio National Guard to convey positive messages about the future of Serbian-American relations.

“I would like to be able to say that this generation had an easy diplomatic path, that it had the opportunity to grow up in a peaceful world, but that is not the case.”

“This generation has a lot of work lined up, and a lot of it will be done in this place,” said Major General Harris.