The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is putting pressure on Serbia and other Balkan countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, to accept migrants deported from the United States, according to sources familiar with the negotiations, reports Anadolu Agency.
These demands directed at countries in the region are part of a broader strategy aimed at finding foreign governments willing to accept migrants deported by the U.S., including those who originally entered the country under protections introduced during the Biden administration, say sources who wished to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the negotiations, according to Bloomberg, as reported by nova.rs.
The White House declined to comment, and neither the State Department nor the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately responded to Bloomberg’s requests for comment sent on Wednesday.
In May, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to revoke temporary legal status for around half a million people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. The administration is now looking for possible destinations for migrants from those countries who may be deported, one source said.
The Wall Street Journal reported as early as April that the U.S. is considering sending deported migrants to other countries as well, including Moldova and Kosovo, as well as various parts of the world.
However, Serbia — which until now had not been mentioned as a possible destination for deportees from the U.S. — is attracting the attention of the Trump family for another reason.
The capital of Serbia is expected to be the site of the future Trump Tower Belgrade, a project being carried out by an investment fund co-founded by Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. The Trump Organization has signed a licensing agreement for its brand for this project. After Trump handed control of the organization to his sons, Eric and Donald Trump Jr., it is Trump Jr. who oversees his father’s assets through a trust fund.
Written by our correspondent D.I.
