"New era in Serbia —US relations!" ran the headline in a Serbian tabloid following Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election in November. It was a sentiment echoed by other Serbian newspapers.

Soon after, President Aleksandar Vucic said that, during his phone call with the president-elect, he emphasized that support for Trump had been greater in Serbia than anywhere else in Europe.

"I am confident that we will make — he will make — America great again, and that we will make Serbia a proper country, one that will be able to cooperate very well with the United States," Vucic said at the time.

Just 10 days before Donald Trump's inauguration, US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Verma will arrive in Serbia this weekend with the goal of initiating a strategic dialogue between Serbia and the United States, and raising bilateral relations to a higher level.

"When the US establishes a strategic dialogue with a country, it means that it sees that country as a reliable partner and ally," says Vuk Velebit of the Pupin Initiative, a Belgrade-based NGO working to strengthen Serbia-US relations.

"Serbia has had strategic agreements with China, Russia and, of course, a special relationship with the EU," Velebit told DW. "The fourth pillar of [Serbia's] foreign policy is the US, and by signing this strategic dialogue, Serbia will achieve this with Washington, which means that relations with China and Russia, along with their influence, will be balanced by a special relationship with America," he added.

This strategic cooperation would, according to........

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