In recent weeks, the pro-government media in Serbia have gloated over the news that US President Donald Trump, shortly after returning to the White House, decided to freeze funding for the US Agency for International Development (USAID). According to the tabloids, USAID is a “notorious organisation”, which used to fund non-governmental organisations in the country, hostile to President Aleksandar Vučić.
Vučić himself, in a similar tone, recently claimed that the “coloured revolution” in Serbia, supposedly financed by the USAID, had failed.
“Let me tell you, their coloured revolution has failed. Let the USAID, NED and the EED know. It’s over with that”, Vučić said at the pro-government rally on 15 February, referring to the ongoing student protests.
In addition, the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) MP Vladimir Đukanović made a public proposal to start a “serious investigation” of all USAID-funded projects in Serbia. This narrative culminated earlier this week, when the Serbian police entered the offices of four civil society organizations (CSOs) to collect information on the possible misuse of USAID funds. The move has been criticized as authoritarian and a part of government intimidation, with commentators pointing out that four CSOs critical of the government were baselessly singled out and targeted.
Many have described both the narratives and the actions of the ruling party as hypocritical, since most USAID projects in Serbia over the past two decades were carried out in cooperation with the national and local governments. More importantly, neither Vučić nor his associates, such as former Prime Minister and current Speaker of the National Assembly Ana Brnabić, were reluctant to praise the USAID in the past.
Brnabić and Vučić were full of praise for USAID activities
In 2021, when USAID celebrated two decades of work in Serbia, the opening of the exhibition was attended by the then Prime Minister and now Assembly Speaker Ana Brnabić, as well as Ivica Dačić, currently the Minister of Interior. It was stated back then that the USAID had invested 882 million dollars in support of the country’s economic and democratic development.
On this occasion, it was pointed out that “USAID’s cooperation with state institutions contributed to these institutions responding better to the needs of citizens”, and Ana Brnabić stressed that the USAID activities in Serbia “make our country more beautiful and richer”. According to Brnabić, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the US Government, through USAID, allocated 9.1 million euros for assistance to Serbia.
Brnabić added that the Agency had helped the Government to equip scientific and health institutions for the fight against COVID, as well as that “USAID supported the efforts of the Government of Serbia in the field of innovation and digitalisation”.
The official biography of Ana Brnabić, who became the Speaker of the National Assembly in 2024, states that, in the 2000s, “she was engaged in various American consulting companies that implemented projects financed by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in Serbia”, and that, among other things, she was one of the founders and the President of the Board of the National Alliance for Local Economic Development (NALED). NALED was founded in 2006 “within the USAID project for encouraging economic development of municipalities”.
Asked about her professional engagement with the USAID in a press conference on 23 February, Ana Brnabić confirmed that she was a founder and president of the board of NALED, but that she “never worked in NALED”.
“I do not see any problem with financing from abroad as long as it is transparent and as long as the goals are clear”, Brnabić said. In the same press conference, however, she claimed that some CSOs in Serbia were receiving funding to overthrow Aleksandar Vučić, without providing any evidence.
Brnabić also agreed to remove the USAID logo from the website of the National Assembly at the request of the pro-Russian opposition. The website was developed in 2011 with the help of a USAID fund, and its logo was present on it until this year. The websites of several other state institutions were also developed with the assistance of USAID, and their logos are still present.
Brnabić also praised USAID in March 2023, when she met with the Administrator of the organisation, Samantha Power. She stated that USAID assistance “enabled significant reforms in Serbian society and economy”. In a cordial one-hour conversation, Brnabić also stressed that Serbia saw the future cooperation with it primarily in the domains of technology, innovation and artificial intelligence.
Samantha Power was also warmly welcomed by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić in May 2023. On this occasion, “President Vučić emphasized Serbia’s commitment to strengthening comprehensive relations with the United States, and especially thanked for the assistance that USAID has provided to the country through its programs in the domains of strengthening the competitiveness of the economy, better functioning of public administration, as well as through current projects implemented at the municipal level, aimed at the improvement of the use of renewable energy sources and environmental protection”.
It was added that “the interlocutors agreed that USAID is a desirable partner for cooperation on projects that will further intensify economic relations with the United States and attract new American investments”.
Not only the Government, but the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) itself apparently cooperated with the USAID. According to a post on the SNS official website from 2018, a USAID Delegation was received in the party headquarters by two senior members, who discussed “support to SNS groups in parliaments… and programmes of political education of SNS members”. Whether this support was implemented and in what form remains unknown.
Which projects have been funded by the USAID in Serbia since 2001?
The new White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt said at a press conference in early February that USAID had spent 1.5 million dollars to improve DEI (diversity, equality and inclusion) in workplaces in Serbia, 70,000 dollars for DEI musical in Ireland, 40,000 for transgender opera in Colombia, and 32,000 for transgender comics in Peru.…
“I don’t know about you, but as an American taxpayer, I don’t want my dollars to be spent on this garbage,” Levitt said.
On the other hand, the USAID web site in Serbia, which is temporarily unavailable, stated, among other things, that “USAID implemented a comprehensive strategy that removed obstacles to doing business, increased transparency, attracted domestic and foreign investments and provided opportunities for companies to develop”.
As it was pointed out, USAID, together with NALED, the organisation co-founded by Ana Brnabić, “designed and conducted the certification procedure of municipalities with a favorable business environment, which is a kind of seal of quality for investors coming to Serbia.”
Also, USAID in Serbia implemented “projects to help agricultural farms to improve the production and placement of their products, as well as to help small businesses create new jobs”.
USAID also helped introduce e-government in municipalities in Serbia, which “simplified procedures for citizens such as applying for birth and marriage registration and other services”, and cooperated with municipalities throughout Serbia “to create conditions for attracting foreign investments and creating new jobs”.
The website also claimed that USAID ensured that ” micro and small agricultural enterprises get access to finance”, and that it supported “agribusiness to conquer new export markets”.
As a result of USAID support in Serbia, cooperation with local communities has often stood out, on projects such as ” renovation or construction of schools, cultural centers, health centers, hospitals, kindergartens and local communities, construction of roads, green and livestock markets”, procurement of medical equipment, equipment for schools…