Mention Serbia to many Americans and the first thing that comes to mind is the U.S. led-NATO bombing campaign against former Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosevic in 1999. Milosevic was overthrown by his countrymen a year later and eventually died in 2006 while on trial for war crimes at The Hague. What's emerged in Serbia since then is a peaceful, democratic government that is eager to forge closer ties with the European Union and the United States. I recently sat down with Serbia's Foreign Minister, Vuk Jeremic, in New York to discuss the new face of Serbia. How is his government dealing with Kosovo—a heavily Muslim region that broke away from Christian Serbia last year, but which the Serbs consider their nation’s heartland? What about the threat of Wahhabi Islam in the Balkans? And how is the U.S/Serbia relationship today? You can watch part 1 of our interview by clicking on the viewer below.
And stay tuned for part two tomorrow, where I discuss Islamic extremism in the Balkans and Serbia's efforts to join the European Union with Foreign Minister Jeremik.
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