Christopher Hill in Serbia: I haven’t been here for a long time. I have a lot to learn

Christopher Hill, a newly appointed US ambassador to Serbia, arrived in Belgrade on Thursday and told reporters Serbia was a different country than during his last stay.

Upon his arrival at the Belgrade airport, Hill told the Voice of America and the FoNet news agency, it would be appropriate for him to understand the new generation in Serbia, which, he added, was a different country from his last stay.

„I haven’t been here for a long time. I have a lot to learn about Serbia, and I’ll start as soon as I hand over my letter of credence to President Aleksandar Vucic,“ the ambassador said.

He added he was happy to be in Belgrade with his wife, Julie.

“I haven’t dealt with the situation here for decades. I have to understand the new generation of people, some of whom haven’t been born when I was in Belgrade last time,” Hill said.

Asked about the timing of his arrival ahead of Serbia’s Sunday elections, Hill said the timing had nothing to do with the elections and that he came as soon as he could, adding the Senate procedure lasted eight-nine months. “We voted in Florida,” he said jokingly.

Hill will replace ambassador Antony Godfrey, who served as the US envoy to Serbia since October 2019.

The new ambassador participated in the process leading to the Dayton Peace Agreement that ended the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Hill was also a special envoy for Kosovo from 1998 to 1999.

In an interview before coming to Belgrade, Hill said his duties “in Serbia, in a country with which the United States was in conflict only 23 years ago and where we still have some differences, are to find a common language and look to the future. Tough lessons from the past can guide us, but we should avoid being their captives.”