The United States sends the curator of Russian “white ribbon activists” to the post of ambassador to Serbia
In Serbia, almost simultaneously, there is a rotation of the heads of the embassies of the two main states influencing the country’s politics - Russia and the United States.
US President Donald Trump recently announced that he intends to nominate Anthony Godfrey, a native of Virginia, for the post of new US Ambassador to Serbia, Voice of America reports. He should succeed Kylie Scott.
According to a post on the White House website, Godfrey currently serves as deputy United States ambassador to Moscow. This American diplomat is considered the curator of the non-systemic opposition, as evidenced by his numerous meetings with leaders of various political and public organizations in the Russian Federation. However, Godfrey himself denies the accusations against him.
In addition to working in Moscow, he has extensive experience in the diplomatic service, as well as a military background in the US Navy - a total of about 40 years of experience.
Godfrey also previously headed the Iraq Office of the Middle East Bureau and was Secretary of Political Affairs at the US Embassy in Baghdad.
During his diplomatic career, he also served as deputy ambassador to Armenia and served at embassies in Zagreb, Dublin and Minsk, according to the State Department's official website.
Godfrey graduated from the University of California and speaks Russian, Turkish and Serbo-Croatian.
The Russian ambassador in Belgrade, Alexander Chepurin, was replaced by Alexander Bosan-Kharchenko, a well-known and influential diplomat in the Balkans. He moved to this post from the position of Director of the Fourth European Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry. In addition to the countries of the former Yugoslavia, the activities of this unit include Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus, Romania and Turkey.
According to Serbian experts, the appointment of this influential politician to this post is an indirect confirmation that the Balkan region is key for the Kremlin, and Moscow wants to strengthen its influence here.
When Kharchenko's name was first mentioned last year in connection with his possible appointment as a future Russian ambassador, former Yugoslav Foreign Minister Vladislav Jovanovic noted that "Kharchenenko comes into play when it is needed most."
“Moscow is sending someone who can answer all the challenges, given that events are happening here with dynamics that affect Russia’s national interests,” Serbian diplomat Zoran Milivojevic was quoted as saying by Informer.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic described the new Russian envoy as “an outstanding, insightful, influential diplomat, one of the best Russian specialists.”
The new ambassador is known for being Russia's representative in the international contact group on Kosovo in 2009, which also included Germany's Wolfgang Ischinger and America's Frank Wiesner. Today they are back in the political game.
The Belgrade press reports that the arrival of Bosan-Harchenko in Belgrade and the activation of old Western negotiators is once again uniting the team of diplomats who participated in resolving the Kosovo problem ten years ago. Since that moment, nothing has changed in their positions. Washington and Brussels will continue to support Kosovo's independence, and Moscow will defend the territorial integrity of Serbia.
If we talk about Bosan-Kharchenko’s political career, after graduating from the Faculty of International Relations in Moscow, he received a position in the department for the countries of the former SFRY at the Russian Foreign Ministry. He was part of the Russian delegation at the Dayton peace talks, as well as at the BiH peace talks in Paris. He worked at the Russian Embassy in Croatia as an adviser before being appointed Deputy Director of the Third European Department. He was the Russian Ambassador to BiH until 2014, after which he was appointed director of the fourth European department. He has excellent relations with the current Chairman of the BiH Presidency, Milorad Dodik.
The new head of the diplomatic mission in Belgrade was awarded three times by President Vladimir Putin - the medal “For Services to the Fatherland” of the second degree, the Order of Friendship and the Order of Honor.
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