Thewesternbalkans
The Donald Trump administration has withdrawn the nomination of Marko Brnović as ambassador to Serbia, according to a decision published on the website of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The reasons for withdrawing Brnović’s nomination were not specified.
In late March, Trump nominated Brnović, a Republican and former Arizona attorney general and senatorial candidate, to be ambassador to Belgrade. A month later, the congressional website announced that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee had officially received the nomination for confirmation.
Mark Brnović, a Serbian-American and former Arizona attorney general, commented on the withdrawal of his candidacy for US ambassador to Serbia.
“I want to thank the President (Donald Trump) for the nomination, but as the process dragged on, it became clear that the bureaucracies of the so-called ‘deep state’ did not want someone with my political, ethical, and religious background to serve in Serbia. Ultimately, I believe that staying close to family and friends in Arizona and finding opportunities to play a bigger role on the domestic political scene is the best path at this moment“, Brnović told the Serbian Times portal.
Comment: The US has not had an ambassador in Belgrade since January this year, when Christopher Hill left the post after Trump returned to the White House, leaving a large diplomatic void.
Nominating and then withdrawing an ambassadorial nomination is a very rare step in diplomacy. That is why it made an impression both in diplomatic circles and in the public.
Brnović’s statement indirectly hints that the main obstacle to his appointment was the activity of the Albanian lobby in the Senate, which fiercely opposed the appointment of a person of Serbian origin and Orthodox faith to a position that is very important for the region.
Serbian media directly mention what Brnović diplomatically keeps silent about: the Albanian lobby in the Senate is so strongly and managed to exert so much pressure, above all, on Democratic senators, that it practically stopped Brnovich’s appointment.
When it became clear that Brnovich’s nomination would not pass the Senate, the White House reacted and withdrew the nomination itself to avoid embarrassment.
Photo: serbiantimes.info
