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EMBASSY OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

WHERE IS IT?

The Embassy of the United States of America is located in Dedinje at Bulevar kneza Aleksandra Karađorđevića 92, the Royal Court.

THE HISTORY

Political relations between the Principality of Serbia and the USA began with the signing of the consular and trade agreement in 1881. Diplomatic relations were established in November 1882 when the U.S. legation in Belgrade, led by Consul Eugene Schuyler, presented its credentials to King Milan Obrenović.
The original embassy building was located at 50 Kneza Miloša Street, where it was housed from 1950.  However, in response to the need for increased space and improved security, efforts commenced to find a new location. On February 21, 2008, during protests following Kosovo's declaration of independence, the American embassy was set ablaze, resulting in the tragic loss of one life. Following a protracted legal process, the court ultimately sentenced the individuals responsible for the arson to several months of suspended sentences.The State Department also stated at that time that it was important to bring to justice not only those who participated in the attack but also, as they put it, those who were in power and ordered the withdrawal of police from the checkpoints near the embassy.

In 2017, the building of the former embassy has undergone a comprehensive renovation and has been transformed into a luxurious mixed-use complex, combining residential and commercial spaces.

The suburb of Dedinje was chosen due to its good position. After two and a half years of construction, the new embassy building opened in 2013. The conceptual design was created by the renowned american firm in consultation with experts from the City Institute for the Protection of Monuments and architect Đorđe Bobić. The old building on Kneza Miloša Street was demolished in 2017 after the land was sold to forign investors.
After World War II, the villa at 44 Užička Street became the residence of the U.S. ambassador. Designed in the style of academic architecture by architect Vojin Simeonović, the villa originally belonged to Nikola Uzunović, who served twice as Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia

Poseta učesnika projekta Ambasadi SAD-a 6.03.2024.

Participant of the Beotura project at the U.S. Embassy with Cultural Affairs Officer Holly Zardus, March 6, 2024.

THE DESIGN

The embassy takes up 14,000 square meters and includes seven buildings. In addition to the main embassy building, the complex contains a smaller building that serves as a residence for the Marine corps who reside for periods typically ranging from 6 to 18 months. The visa application process takes place in a building separate from other embassy premises. The other outside areas include basketball and tennis courts for employees' physical activities, as well as barbecue and celebration spaces.
The design of the Chancery, the most prominent and defining building within the embassy campus, aims to achieve excellence in neo-modernist architectural design. Marble and granite façades with subtle variations in stone sizes, textures, and rhythm enhance the building's volumetric massing.The entrance façade canopies and the shading devices feature delicate metal detailing, enhancing a sense of refinement.
The project is LEED® Certified, obtaining credits in Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, and Indoor Environmental Quality. The embassy complex is the first building in the region to meet the "green building" sustainability standards.

Green spaces make up forty-two percent of the embassy's property.

The interior of the main embassy building consists of three floors. The first floor houses cultural and educational sectors, including student exchange programs. The large lobby includes workspaces, a cafeteria, a canteen, and a store where American employees can purchase products from the USA. The ambassador's office is on the second floor, and the offices of other sectors are on the third floor.
The interior is decorated in minimalist style. Above the main entrance is an interesting artwork made from branches collected from the streets of Belgrade. The corridors are adorned with flags of allied states and artworks by Serbian artists such as Marina Abramović, Cile Marinković, and others.

BILATERAL RELATIONS

Relations between Serbia and the USA have a long tradition. The first steps towards establishing diplomatic relations were made by signing the Consular Convention and the Trade Agreement between the Principality of Serbia and the United States in 1881. Diplomatic relations were established in November 1882 when the U.S. legation, led by Consul Eugene Schuyler, arrived in Belgrade.
The diplomatic relations were developed in an era when both states were plagued by extreme instability, including political assassinations and wars. Just four years after President Lincoln was murdered, near the end of bloody Civil War, Prince Mihajlo Obrenovic was shot and killed while walking through Kosutnjak Park.
Schuyler, along with another American, John Kasson, played a vital role in convincing Washington of the need to support Serbia. Kasson, who was based in Vienna at the time, urged Washington to establish a trade relationship to help Serbia escape Austro-Hungarian commercial domination. “Serbia is struggling to establish its independence with the civilization of Western Europe, under many difficulties arriving from powerful intervening neighbors,” Kasson wrote to Washington.
The treaties drafted by Schuyler, Kasson, and their Serbian counterparts were sent to Washington for review in late June 1881. Days later, the Department of State sent a telegram approving the text of the treaties. Schuyler quickly traveled from his post in Bucharest to Belgrade, signing the consular and commercial treaties on October 14 with Serbia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Čedomilj Mijatović.
It would be one more year before the U.S. Senate fully approved the treaty, at which point Schuyler presented his diplomatic credentials to King Milan alongside “the sincere wishes of the American people for the peace and welfare of the Serbian nation, whose longing for independence, after centuries of struggle, have at last been realized.”

During World War II, due to the German occupation of Yugoslavia, the American legation moved to London in 1941. The legation in Belgrade was elevated to an embassy in 1942, and the then U.S. envoy to the Yugoslav government, Anthony Drexel Biddle Jr., became the ambassador. In subsequent years, the embassy, along with the Yugoslav government, moved to Egypt, then back to London, and finally returned to Belgrade in 1945 after the war ended.
Following the allied relations in World War I and World War II, the period from 1945 to 1948 saw a cooling of relations between Yugoslavia and the USA. After the conflict between Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, political cooperation with the USA intensified. During the Cold War, due to Yugoslavia's non-aligned policy, there were numerous meetings between Tito and U.S. presidents such as Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon, Ford, and Carter. Military cooperation was established in 1951, and an agreement between the two governments defined military aid to the Yugoslav army in the form of military technology, weapons, tanks, and aircraft. A year later, cooperation in science and technology was established.
In the 1960s and 1970s, relations between the USA and Yugoslavia were highly successful, and President Josip Broz Tito met with every American president except Lyndon Johnson. During this era, Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford made official visits to Yugoslavia, while Tito visited the USA as a guest of John F. Kennedy and Jimmy Carter.

George F. Kennan, a distinguished American diplomat and foreign policy expert, made a significant contribution to strengthening American-Yugoslav relations. Serving as the U.S. ambassador to Yugoslavia from 1961 to 1963, Kennan demonstrated a profound understanding of international diplomacy, advocating for U.S. economic support to bolster the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) as it navigated the crisis brought on by the severing of close political ties with the Soviet Union. On June 13, 2022, a commemorative plaque honoring Kennan’s tenure as ambassador was unveiled at the former site of the U.S. embassy on Knez Miloš Street in Belgrade.

Virologist Albert Sabin, who discovered the polio vaccine, visited Yugoslavia, donated virus strains to the Torlak Institute in Belgrade, leading to the production of the polio vaccine in Yugoslavia. Cooperation also extended to nuclear and space research, with Yugoslavia hosting the Apollo 11 mission team three months after their return from the moon, and Tito visiting NASA. Art, culture, and films were quickly incorporated into Yugoslav public life, with Hollywood actors participating in Yugoslav films, the expansion of trade chains, and advertisements featuring American themes.
Relations between the SFRY and the USA continued uninterrupted until 1992, when international sanctions were imposed on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The USA closed its embassy in Belgrade a day before the NATO bombing on March 23, 1999. Relations were reestablished after October 2000 through an exchange of letters between President Bill Clinton and Vojislav Koštunica, and the embassy reopened in 2001, with William Montgomery as the ambassador

A picture of American President John F. Kennedy to President Josip Broz Tito, Museum of Yugoslavia

 

 

A picture of American President Gerald Ford with a note to President Josip Broz Tito, Museum of Yugoslavia.

Written by Nina Vojvodić, Viktor Raičević and Mila Keserović