Google Speech-to-Text API Automatic Transcription (Chirp). Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:00:00Thank you chairman, thank you for being here.
00:00:03of I know our chairman self uh mentioned China's
00:00:06investment in Serbia earlier, so let me pick up on
00:00:11of that,
00:00:11of Serbia's ties with China have expended in recent years
00:00:15of and Serbian president said, we have very
00:00:19good
00:00:20of cooperation between our countries and we want to bring it to a higher level if
00:00:24possible. Well, notably, Serbia's importation
00:00:28of concerning levels of weapons from ranging from
00:00:31long-range air to surface ballistic missiles to
00:00:35advanced surface to air
00:00:37of missiles. along with this participation in joined
00:00:40of military drills with China represents unpresidentist strategic behavior
00:00:44for an EU candidate nation. Mr.
00:00:47Lowton, given these concerning developments, how
00:00:51is the state department addressing the risk of Serbia's
00:00:54of military alignment with Beijing to US security interest in
00:00:58stability in the Western Balkan.
00:01:02of Representative Kim, you raised some very important issues and and we share your
00:01:05concerns about Serbia's engagement, especially defense
00:01:09cooperation with China. As you mentioned, their purchase of
00:01:13of air defense equipment, they are the only
00:01:16European country to buy such equipment in
00:01:18of Europe. What are we doing? The United States continues to
00:01:22engage with Serbia a high level to make
00:01:25of us the partner of
00:01:26of choice, and as I mentioned earlier, the United States.
00:01:30lots
00:01:30of of
00:01:31of can you talk about some specific steps that
00:01:34United States is taking to address that security risk with
00:01:38Belgrade and our European allies. I know we're taking
00:01:42steps and it is important what you're saying, but again I think
00:01:46in we are asking for some specifics. Yeah, the
00:01:50of United States supported the NATO exercise in Serbia. I will also
00:01:54mention that the Ohio national guard enjoys a state part,
00:01:57celebrating 20 years of state partnership program. is also
00:02:00a vector for exercising and promoting US
00:02:04influence in Serbia in terms of security
00:02:06cooperation. Thank
00:02:09of you. In July, Secretary Rubio and minister of foreign affairs,
00:02:13Mark Jurrick let the first US Serbia strategic
00:02:16dialogue here in Washington DC, and the initiative
00:02:20represents a wide range of areas of cooperation in
00:02:23energy, defense and technology. So can you
00:02:27in explain the long-term objectives. that is associated with that
00:02:31effort and where there is potential road blocks for
00:02:35future cooperation, including Serbia's extensive relationship with
00:02:39Russia and China. Please be as specific as
00:02:43possible.
00:02:44of Sure. Well, representative Kim, I can tell you that the first ever
00:02:47US Serbia strategic dialogue advanced energy
00:02:51cooperation between our two countries, including moving forward
00:02:55on important hydropower
00:02:57of project, it also expanded a full bright cooperation. between our two countries with
00:03:01Serbia contributing more to that uh,
00:03:04of in addition, Serbia plans to open two new counselots in the United States, so we are
00:03:08broadening that that that bilateral relationship between our two
00:03:11me countries. As you correctly point out, military cooperation with
00:03:15China poses risks, it poses risks to our ability to to
00:03:19foster defense cooperation with Serbia, it poses risks to
00:03:22interoperability. How do you plan addressing those road
00:03:26blocks and the challenges you are mentioning, of kim, we we
00:03:30plan to engage in vigorous diplomacy and and we continue to do
00:03:34that both here in Washington through our embassy.
00:03:37Okay, well that's all I have for you, I'll yiel
00:03:41back. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
00:03:44I now recognize the member from Nevada, Miss
00:03:46Titus. Well, thank you, Mr.
00:03:49Chairman. Uh, I'd just like to take a minute to
00:03:52of talk about the what happened last month when Ratko
00:03:56Maladic passed away. He was
00:03:59of a war criminal. known as the butcher of Bosnian, he died in
00:04:03the Hague where he'd been served
00:04:05in a prison sentence after he was convicted by the
00:04:08International Criminal Tribunal for uh
00:04:12former Yugoslavia of crimes
00:04:14of against humanity, war crimes and genocide. He
00:04:18of played a leading role uh in the massacre where
00:04:21approximately 8,000 bosniac men and boys were
00:04:25killed. I ask unanimous consent, Mr. Chairman
00:04:29to enter letter uh into the record from Bosnian and
00:04:33Herzegovina's foreign minister, detailing his horrors
00:04:37and the government stance on circumstances surrounding the
00:04:40transfer of his body back to Serbia. Without objection, thank
00:04:44you. One might think that Malotics death would have been a sober
00:04:48moment of reflection for the
00:04:49of Serbian government, but instead it's been just the opposite.
00:04:53Serbia chose to treat Melodic like national hero, his coffin
00:04:57a was flown
00:04:58a government plane. from the Netherlands back to
00:05:02Serbia, he was carried off the plane by soldiers, thousands
00:05:05of people came out to honor him, his casket featured parts
00:05:09of his uniform and medals he had worn, when he was conducting
00:05:13the genocide, and the head the Serbian orthodox church
00:05:17says, we know that his name will remain deeply
00:05:21etched in the memory and prayers the people who feel and
00:05:25nurture a deep sense of gratitude towards him.
00:05:29now this shouldn't come as a surprise to us, because
00:05:32Alexander Vutic is a right-wing nationalist who's
00:05:36made genocidal comments himself. for example, he said, for
00:05:39every serb killed we will kill 100. Muslims, so
00:05:43obviously this kind of ultra-nationalist fervor is good for
00:05:47politics, for him and his party back home. So I would
00:05:51ask you, Mr. Lawton, thus far, the state department,
00:05:55unlike the EU, has remained quiet about this whole
00:05:58episode. Uh, do you think the Serbian's government glorified
00:06:02a glorification of a convicted war criminal and mastermind
00:06:06of one the worst genocides in Europe since World War II, is
00:06:10appropriate behavior? Representative
00:06:14Titus, let me go on the record for you right here, Radko
00:06:17Miladic is, he serves you, as you rightly pointed out, he served life
00:06:21sentence, died in jail, he was convicted for genocide, crimes against
00:06:25humanity and war crimes. I want to assure you that we recognize the
00:06:29shrebra genocide, we remember the victims
00:06:32and we reject a glorification of war
00:06:35criminals, tragedy and crimes the 1990s,
00:06:39they shouldn't be turned into political theater, that's offensive. memory
00:06:42to the the tens of thousands of victims and the millions who live through
00:06:46that that period, regional stability under is
00:06:50been undermined
00:06:51for far too long by those who want to re-litigate the past for selfish
00:06:55gain rather than work to build the
00:06:58more stable and prosper prosperous future. well, i appreciate
00:07:02you saying that now, and and you
00:07:04have said before about the regional stability. i think your own
00:07:07words which you submitted to us is that
00:07:10the state department is ready to work with. those prepared to move into the
00:07:14future and has little interest in those who would undermine
00:07:17stability for selfish purposes or who relitigate
00:07:21decades old grievances, but that's precisely what
00:07:25Serbia is doing, so if we don't condone that, why aren't we
00:07:29taking some position kind of like the EU, they
00:07:32publicly have uh condemned the glorification and
00:07:36the EU pu enlargement commissioner Martha
00:07:40Kosk cancelled her? because of
00:07:43this, does secretary rubio plan to do anything to
00:07:47publicly condemn this or say we don't support it or
00:07:51don't approve of it? well,
00:07:54representative titus,
00:07:56you know, we don't respond to every every international development in public
00:08:00uh, but I can assure you that our diplomatic dialogue remains robust,
00:08:04and and thanks to your question, I hope I've put the US position clearly on
00:08:08the record. well, I, I do appreciate that, so thank you. I just, I
00:08:11wonder if... we think this is going to have anything to do with
00:08:15the moving forward the EU for Serbia,
00:08:18but i guess you don't want to comment on that uh
00:08:22publicly, well another thing let ask you about uh the Trump
00:08:26administration's kind of corrupt policies in the Balkans are
00:08:29enriching the president's friends and they're also I think undermining
00:08:33national security. in Bosnia, the Trump
00:08:36administration rewarded its lobbyist friends by removing
00:08:40sanctions um... Millerad Dodic and
00:08:44advocating for a $1 billion dollar concession to be provided
00:08:48to Trump allies in Albania where they are
00:08:51protesting Jared Kuschner is using his connections to with
00:08:55the administration to develop a multi-billion dollar
00:08:59luxury resort uh in November
00:09:022025 the Serbian parliament passed a law
00:09:05paving the way for Jared Kuschner to develop luxury
00:09:09hotel and apartment complex on the side of former
00:09:13yugoslav army headquarters which was bombed by NATO
00:09:17in 1999 and this deal is kind of
00:09:20stalled, but what is the sale of Serbian
00:09:24government building to the Trump family with a stated goals of
00:09:27improving relations with the US say about uh
00:09:31the president's willingness to engage in this sort of thing members time is
00:09:35expired and now recognize Mr. Davidson from Ohio. Thank
00:09:38you. Thank you Mr. Lawton and thank you chairman for this.
00:09:42hearing earlier this year, there were reports that the European Union would be
00:09:46withholding certain EU Growth plands to Serbia due
00:09:49to reforms inside Serbia, could you update us on the situation
00:09:53there and your read on the European Union's decision?
00:09:57well thank you uh representative Davidson, again
00:10:01just to come back we're not a member the European Union so I i don't have deep insight
00:10:04into uh the EU decision there, but um
00:10:08but uh you I would refer you to Brussels for for for why they made that
00:10:12decision. Yeah, I mean, I'm not really asking why they made their
00:10:16decision, I there are certainly implications for the United States policy,
00:10:19and while the EU isn't really our partner, EU, we've
00:10:23we're essentially the European. union defense force with
00:10:26NATO, so so we certainly have vested interest
00:10:30in in the security arrangements there, there's also
00:10:33reports that Serbian accession into the European
00:10:37Union is being harmed by Serbia's refusal to join
00:10:41EU and western sanctions against Russia, does forcing
00:10:45Serbia to take a side in this conflict, advance our interest
00:10:48in the region? thank you, representative
00:10:52Davidson, what I can tell you is that um...
00:10:56"uh, we have sanctions
00:10:57you know on Russia and many of our NATO allies do as well, uh, we would
00:11:00encourage countries to join us in that. okay, but
00:11:04is the relationship between Serbia and the and the
00:11:08European Union undermining the United States relationship with
00:11:11Serbia, uh, and frankly the broader interest in the
00:11:15Balkans, so rather than just focusing on Serbia, are there
00:11:18other powers exerting notable influence in the region
00:11:22that are countering America's interest there?" " Thank you for the
00:11:26question, representative Davidson, I can tell you for there are, and as we've
00:11:29discussed here, certainly geopolitical rivals, especially
00:11:33China, also Russia do pose risks to stability in the
00:11:37Western Balkans, that's why we want positive relations across the
00:11:41whole region, with all all the all the countries the Western Balkans to
00:11:45foster uh the stability that is is in in all our
00:11:48collective interest, and so in terms the European
00:11:52Union, I'll just reiterate, we don't take a position
00:11:55and membership, that's a sovereign decision for the Western Balcan countries to
00:11:59make in in consultation and coordination with the European Union.
00:12:03Yeah, thank you. You mentioned in your opening statement that you're working with partners to
00:12:06counter threats from Balkan transnational criminal organizations that
00:12:10directly cooperate with western hemisphere cartels
00:12:13and operate black market activity inside the United
00:12:17States. Could you help us better understand what is going on here? Which
00:12:20countries are these Balkan organizations primarily connected
00:12:24to. what are the main areas of cooperation that we should be aware of?
00:12:28sure, representative Davidson, right
00:12:30now, transnational criminal organizations look for the
00:12:34weakest link, where they feel they can generate gain a
00:12:38foothold and influence. we have active
00:12:42programs to to support law enforcement cooperation
00:12:46and to counter uh narcotics. these transnational criminal
00:12:50organizations are working across the western balcans
00:12:53to essentially not just to uh gain a foothold into
00:12:56Europe, but also to launder money and to uh and and
00:12:59to
00:13:01and and and to affect the US homeland, so that law enforcement
00:13:04cooperation across all the western Balcan states is really critical to our
00:13:08security. yeah, as a chairman for national security and ilicit finance
00:13:12and financial services also serving here, you see the intersection
00:13:16lot of times of our treasury department and the state department, so
00:13:19particularly with respect to cyber scams, could you update us on the
00:13:23collaboration within u state with treasury
00:13:26to to really find the people targeting this, because what we see
00:13:30inside the United States is state and local governments are overwhelm, you'll see
00:13:34somebody who's scammed out of 10, $25,00, it doesn't rise to
00:13:38the level that the FBI or Secret Service will look at, but the
00:13:42reality is it's it's not like some local actor, lot of times it's not even someone
00:13:45inside the United States, these transnational organization are Robin, our
00:13:49citizens of billions of dollars every year, so how's that collaboration
00:13:53going? Representative Davidson, I can assure you that we continue to
00:13:57work with our partners across that region to to address uh
00:14:01these transnational criminal organizations and the threats they pose. I think you're
00:14:05you're you're you're very right to point out that this also uh
00:14:08also bleeds into the area of cyber security. I can I can
00:14:12assure you that we're also working to try to strengthen the cyber security
00:14:16uh capabilities of these countries. Thank you and I yield
00:14:20back. And now welcome to this subcommittee,
00:14:23member the full committee. Mr. Ladimir from New York, sir, you recognized
00:14:27for five minutes. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, I appreciate it. Uh, Mr.
00:14:31Lorton, just one question for you, NATO's K4 mission
00:14:35remains vitally important to ensuring peace and stability in
00:14:39Kosovo. Um, what are the Trump
00:14:42administration's plans to support K4? What do
00:14:45you assess as the uh continued military uh
00:14:49modernization challenges that face Kosovo, and how is the
00:14:52US assisting Kosovo? dealing with these
00:14:55efforts, well representative, thank you for that
00:14:59important question, I can assure you that
00:15:02the as we've just as chairman self
00:15:05noted, K4 enjoys great support in the region,
00:15:09both from Kosovo and Serbia, in terms of its
00:15:13mission, its size and scope is determined by NATO's North
00:15:16Atlantic Council, it's decided among 32 NATO
00:15:20allies, we support, we continue to support size needed to
00:15:24accomplish.
00:15:38Uh, there's some key factors in play here, the are US policy
00:15:41priorities, mission needs and partner capability, but I
00:15:45just want to reassure you that we remain engaged in K4, and our presence is an
00:15:49important one. Well, we appreciate that. We have great respect for the
00:15:52government the people of Kosovo, they are striving for
00:15:56democracy in the way that we in this country uh have tried to establish it as well,
00:16:00so the uh the support of this administration for that initiative is we think
00:16:04important and and well-placed uh effort. Mr. Chairman, thank you, and
00:16:08I yield back. Uh, thank you. I now recognize the member
00:16:12from Florida, Mr. Fine. Well, thank you for being here today. I think these are
00:16:16important issues to deal with, and my my concerns are largely going to
00:16:20stem around the milign influence of Russia and China in
00:16:24the region, because I think we can use what's happening here as as a broader
00:16:27analogue to the kinds of maligne efforts that these adversaries of ours are
00:16:31engaging around the world, and so thank you for being here today. Um, look, there
00:16:35are media reports that Russia's... been using their longstanding
00:16:39presence in Serbia as a forward operating base to support hybrid
00:16:43warfare operations in Europe and intelligence collection. Can you
00:16:47describe what Russia is doing from the Western Balkans to support
00:16:50their hybrid warfare campaigns and explain how operating from
00:16:54countries like Serbia enhances Russia's hybrid warfare
00:16:57capabilities. Well representative fine, thank you for the
00:17:01question. I what I could say in general is that Serbia is is
00:17:05trying to provoke a mode instability in the region, it's
00:17:09a vector for for as you mentioned negative influence in the
00:17:13region, and the way that Russia does this
00:17:17by enlarge is by promoting energy dependence on Russian
00:17:20sources, so the United States is is engaged a
00:17:24an active active work across the region to promote energy
00:17:28abundance in the region, so the western balcan friends and partners
00:17:32would enjoy greater energy security, we do believe
00:17:36that by promoting infrastructure as well as
00:17:39US and more secure energy
00:17:43solutions that our western balcan allies will be more secure
00:17:46and and less prone to um to Russian cours. So Russia
00:17:50uses their energy both as vehicle to control, but
00:17:54also as a way to obtain revenues which they're using for other
00:17:58malign purposes. We certainly see that in Ukraine and in other
00:18:01places. That is correct. Okay, um, so I want
00:18:04to addition
00:18:05to their traditional relationship with Russia. Serbia has recently forged close ties to
00:18:09China, another one of our adversaries, signing a free trade agreement and deepening
00:18:13security cooperation by procuring advanced Chinese defense systems
00:18:17and participating in joint military drills. This comes a time when the US is
00:18:21trying to increase cooperation with Serbia, creating the US Serbia strategic
00:18:24dialogue which seeks to promote, as you talked about, cooperation in energy,
00:18:28defense and technology. How does Serbia's increase cooperation with China
00:18:32factor into the long-term objectives the US-Serbia
00:18:35strategic dialogue? representative fine,
00:18:39it it does factor in. what I can assure you is that well, a little bit of
00:18:43background here, when Secretary State Rubio met with his
00:18:46counterpart, Serbian foreign minister Jurat last
00:18:49year, the first time that the United States met with the foreign minister
00:18:53at that level since 2007, and so what the
00:18:57administration is doing is engaging a more senior level,
00:19:01the policy of isolation was not working, and so this constructive
00:19:05engagement is designed to make sure that the United States becomes the
00:19:08partner of choice, and so we are investing time,
00:19:11energy and and promoting US
00:19:15solutions and whether it's in defense, economics,
00:19:18energy, to build a stronger, more constructive relationship with
00:19:22Serbia. Okay, I want to change focus, these are great answers, thank
00:19:26you. I want to talk about the department's current approach to the longstanding NATO
00:19:30Kosovo force or KFOR, that mission K4. Are
00:19:33there any plans for US troop withdraw or reduction from K4? How does?
00:19:37the continued US role in K4 and the presence of Camp Bond steel
00:19:41contribute to regional stability in Kosovo and the Western Balkans. Well,
00:19:45thank you representative fine. Yes, I agree with you. K4 is an important
00:19:48force uh for stability in the in the Western
00:19:51Balkans. Um, as I mentioned earlier, the size and scope is
00:19:55determined by uh NATO's North Atlantic Council. It's
00:19:58decided at 32 in Brussels. Uh, we do support a
00:20:02for size that's needed to accomplish K4's mission uh, as
00:20:05conditions permit. "and we continue as always to try to
00:20:09optimize any US contributions to international peacekeeping, we do
00:20:13that weighing US policy priorities, mission needs and
00:20:17partner capability. okay, last question is, what actions do
00:20:21you think need to be taken on the diplomatic front and milestones need to
00:20:25be hit to provide the confidence needed to scale down the US
00:20:28presence? well, I think uh, any international
00:20:32peacekeeping force of this nature, it depends on,
00:20:36um, and it's..." based and we'd like to see greater
00:20:40progress in the normalization process between Serbia and
00:20:43Kosovo, we'd like to see that process resume, it
00:20:47may be difficult in the context of ongoing elections.
00:20:51in in in in the region, but we'd like to see that process resume because
00:20:54Kosovo uh talking to Serbia about normalization would improve
00:20:58conditions on the ground. Well, thank
00:21:00you. Look, this is an important region the world. There's a lot of challenges, we've got to keep the
00:21:04peace, deal with China, deal with Russia. I certainly appreciate what you and the
00:21:07administration are doing in that regards and I appreciate your time being here today. Thank
00:21:11you, Mr. Chairman, I yield back. Uh, thank you. I appreciate the ranking
00:21:15member allowing us to do second round with you, Mr.
00:21:18Lawton. and before I recognize or I recognize
00:21:22myself for five minutes and I want to introduce into the record the
00:21:26statement by Senator Shaheen and Grassly and myself statement
00:21:30ahead the funeral of Radco Malodige without
00:21:33objection before I get to uh Bosnia
00:21:36Herzegovina I just want to make a comment
00:21:40that these things do not go unnoticed in the
00:21:43region when the United States
00:21:47policy starts a strategic
00:22:21some the political leaders in
00:22:23Serbia in Bosnia already, the rule of
00:22:27law is a whole mark in western liberal
00:22:29democracies, but it's taken some nations centuries to
00:22:33get there, when we look at the former high
00:22:37representative Christian Schmidt, his use the
00:22:41bond powers and he imposed international governance,
00:22:45we realize now they don't cure local instability, in some
00:22:49instances they...
00:22:50to have destabilized Bosnia Herzegovina and my view,
00:22:54the next high representative must take the
00:22:57position the ultimate goal of closing that
00:23:01office when appropriate, and when appropriate is probably the operative
00:23:05term here,
00:23:07and I want to explore with you, given
00:23:11the issues we have with the European organizations, the
00:23:14various European organizations,
00:23:18why would we not? want the next high
00:23:22representative to be a US
00:23:25representative, thank you, chairman,
00:23:29self, um, I don't want to prejudge who the next
00:23:33high representative will be, um, as you know, Christian
00:23:36Schmith resigned effective on June 30th, uh, the,
00:23:40I can tell you as we look forward, that the
00:23:44current acting high representative, he was his deputy has a
00:23:48senior US diplomat, and i can
00:23:52assure you as well that acting high
00:23:55representative enjoys the necessary
00:23:59authority to to help promote stability in the region, especially as we
00:24:03run up to elections in Bosnia and Herzegov and
00:24:07i don't want to prejudge, i will just
00:24:08say by tradition it has been a a
00:24:12European that has filled that role,
00:24:15but in terms of successor to christian
00:24:19schmidth. European didn't replace him because uh there wasn't
00:24:22European consensus on who that would be. Yeah, thank you.
00:24:26Exactly. So
00:24:28how reasonable is it to expect that BH will meet
00:24:32the 5 plus two criteria in let's say five
00:24:35years? Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I
00:24:38i i when it comes to the Western Balkans, I'm always hesitant to
00:24:42speculate about the future. But what I can what I can assure
00:24:46you is that we will work, we share your sentiment.
00:24:50that um international international supervision of sovereign
00:24:54state is is is 30 years after a
00:24:57conflict,
00:24:59it just isn't isn't the state of state of affairs that we'd like to
00:25:03see, as you point out, there are specific criteria for phasing out the role,
00:25:07the high representative, those haven't been achieved, but we continue
00:25:11to work with right now the acting high representative to promote stability in the
00:25:14region and we'll continue to do so, but you
00:25:18yourself have said we want to step back on the US
00:25:22political and move toward the commercial, at partner
00:25:26of choice, I think is your term, but uh,
00:25:30stability, we're 30 years on from from Dayton, 30, 30
00:25:34plus years on from Dayton, and as you say
00:25:37yourself, they are they are not meeting the 5 plus2 criteria,
00:25:41so
00:25:41I think I think we need to
00:25:45think about perhaps
00:25:49lesser... movements that we can do as a
00:25:52US policy position, well thank you, chairman,
00:25:56self, I can assure you that we don't want to
00:25:59see excessive internet. national
00:26:02interventionism in the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
00:26:06as I mentioned in my opening statement, we we favor local leaders
00:26:10forging local solutions to local problems, and I think you're
00:26:14rightly point out, when when we look at stability,
00:26:18prosperity or commercial commercial prosperity
00:26:21is, they're two sides the same coin, they're mutually reinforcing, and we
00:26:25we we clearly want to promote both uh as we move
00:26:29forward. Thank you, and before I before I yield, I will... say
00:26:32that uh, I think Bosnia Herzegovina, flying apart is
00:26:36probably not outside the realm the
00:26:40possibility, particularly given the RS
00:26:43positions. With that, I yield back and I recognize Mr.
00:26:46Keeding. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, I think this morning
00:26:50we've heard in this committee rare
00:26:54example of bipartisan concern
00:26:58for Serbian relationships with Russia and China.
00:27:03now that goes both sides the isle and I think the members here have
00:27:07been uh quite clear on that uh
00:27:10and uh I think it was good that the chair
00:27:13highlighted the fact in terms the uh
00:27:17strategic dialogue that the US Serbian
00:27:20strategic dialogue went forward while the US Kosovo
00:27:24strategic dialogue remained suspended uh important to
00:27:28highlight
00:27:29I do think that the office of uh high
00:27:32representative is critical and I want to reaffirm support
00:27:36for that office. I do want to put the caviad in that
00:27:40I think
00:27:41that the administration should work with Europe uh to find a consensus in
00:27:45dealing with someone that will reaffirm the Dayton agreement in
00:27:48particular. I want to get back to the strategic
00:27:51dialogue issue uh you're
00:27:55correct sir and saying that uh that centered around
00:27:58energy cooperation and the importance of
00:28:02dealing with that issue, but it didn't seem to deal with lot of other
00:28:06issues. uh, they went ahead with the strategic
00:28:10dialogue in July, and it
00:28:13gave another appearance, at least in my view, that it was to
00:28:17bolster Vuçic ahead of his own elections in
00:28:21October by doing those, by timing it that
00:28:24way, and uh,
00:28:28I just think that one important issue that we addressed to many, of
00:28:32us did anyways this morning, I want to ask you, was that address
00:28:36too, was it the Russian and
00:28:39the and the PRC, maline influence, part of those
00:28:42discussions, that's something that people here showed concern
00:28:46both sides the is on this morning, and it's certainly if there were going to
00:28:49be there was going to be a strategic dialogue,
00:28:52did it include specifically discussion of Russian
00:28:56and PRC, malign influence, something that
00:29:00clearly should have been addressed, it's part of that.
00:29:02dialogue, well, thank you, ranking member
00:29:06Keeding for for the important question, what I can assure is that the
00:29:10strategic dialogue,
00:29:13which took place as you said in July
00:29:16had nothing to do with with the electoral process in
00:29:20Serbia, but I can also,
00:29:23I must say it did give an appearance that way, go ahead, what
00:29:27I can also assure you is that is part of our diplomatic dialogue
00:29:30with all our Western Balcan partner. uh, we
00:29:34we we promote the United States as the partner of choice, and we also
00:29:38warn about the um, the dangers, the
00:29:41pitfalls, so how do you, I'm concerned too, and I brought up
00:29:45with the pay to play uh report that we issued this
00:29:48morning, how the US is doing that,
00:29:52how they're showing support, and what
00:29:55channels that support goes through,
00:29:58specifically the fact that the lobbyists used?
00:30:03uh uh for dodics de-listing
00:30:07were people that had committed crimes uh, probably not the
00:30:11first in the list of people you would normally have,
00:30:14but why were they there? it's because the close relationship with this
00:30:18administration, they were pardoned by this administration, one them was a high
00:30:22official in this administration, the other was his
00:30:24attorney, so of all the people in the world
00:30:28lobbying, those were the people that were there, that gives an appearance.
00:30:32as well in terms of corruption issues. you also look
00:30:36at uh the president's
00:30:39son-in-law uh getting involved in billion dollar
00:30:43business interest, private interest, who's also an onboy
00:30:47special representative for the president uh seemingly
00:30:50globally uh right now, and and in
00:30:54spite of you know fierce opposition in the
00:30:58countries that he was dealing with