Speech by Chargé d’Affaires Titolo at the U.S. Independence Day Celebration

Belgrade, July 1, 2025 – “It’s an incredible honor for me and my wife Yinnet to welcome you to the celebration of the 249th anniversary of American independence.

It is hot.  I’m not the ambassador.  And I’m speaking Serbian.  So I’ll keep these remarks brief and to the point. Thank you, Speaker Brnabić, ministers, religious dignitaries, and honored guests from all aspects of Serbian life for taking the time to join us tonight.

Thank you to the many sponsors who made tonight’s event possible with your generous support.  We are proud of the value American businesses bring to the Serbian economy, and we are committed to increasing the business relationship between our countries.

Tonight, we celebrate independence, boldly declared by a freedom-loving people. That freedom-loving spirit is one thing that has always connected Americans and Serbs. It made us allies in two world wars. It shapes our identities. And now it can serve as the guiding principle for a new era in Serbia-U.S. relations.

President Trump has articulated a new vision for America’s relationships with other nations –based on a spirit of practical realism.  It’s a vision that sees beyond the conflicts of the past and calls on us to forge new partnerships to create a better, safer, more prosperous and more stable world.  This is a tremendous opportunity especially for Serbia.

For far too long, the U.S.-Serbia relationship was mired in distrust and cynicism stemming from the wars of the 1990s.   We’ve worked hard to reset that relationship through great support to the Serbian people, and through investment in Serbian institutions.

There is probably no place in Serbia that has not, in some way, been touched by the generous assistance of the American people and partnerships with American institutions. Over the past 25 years we have helped the government to modernize – from courts, to police, to tax systems, to procurement process, to permitting, and more.

We have helped build your economy – from film to agriculture to tech and innovation.  We have helped Serbian universities internationalize and focus on developing the workforce Serbia needs for the future.

We have done all this to build a foundation for a renewed relationship, to restore our relations to their rightful historical position of strength and trust, and to focus on the future. That foundation is now firmly in place.  I see it in front of me as I stand here before all of you.  You all are the proof that this relationship can be about the future, not the past. My experience here tells me Serbia is ready to seize the moment. And America is ready too.  The foundation is in place.  Now we must build upon it.

This fall we will open up the American Resource Center “the ARC” at Lozionica which will show my country’s commitment to our shared goals for Serbia’s future.  A future of economic dynamism and creativity.

And in two years we’ll be here at EXPO 2027, to show Serbia a new side of the United States, while you re-introduce Serbia to the world.

I’ll close tonight by noting that today we start a countdown to what will be an epic celebration in my country – our 250^th birthday next year on July 4^th.

All year we will be highlighting this monumental anniversary with a series of events and activities branded as “America250.”  It will be a way for you all and the entire world to get to know America, all over again.  As a nation we appreciate and honor our past, but remain firm in our belief that the best days for the U.S. and for Serbia lie ahead us.  Our spirit of freedom does not allow us to be prisoners of the past. That is why we believe that in the future, U.S.-Serbian relations will be stronger than ever.

Thank you again for celebrating with us tonight. Enjoy.”