- Serbia, BiH, North Macedonia hit hardest in region by new U.S. tariffs
U.S. President Donald Trump has imposed “reciprocal tariffs” on goods from almost every country in the world, citing what he referred to as years of unfair trade practices.
The list of countries that will be hit the hardest by the U.S. administration’s decision includes Serbia (37% tariff), Bosnia and Herzegovina (35%), and North Macedonia (33%). The new tariff for European Union member Croatia is 20%. For Montenegro, Albania and Kosovo, it is 10%.
Although Serbia’s exports to the U.S. account for only 2.1 percent of total exports, the tariffs could negatively impact the U.S. market, primarily Serbian automotive products (mainly tires) and military products (mainly ammunition). To a lesser extent, the new tariffs will affect food exports.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the U.S. market accounts for only 1 percent of total foreign trade. However, the impact of the new tariffs will be significant for BiH’s defense industry.
The bulk of North Macedonia’s exports to the U.S. includes tobacco, clothing, and metallurgical products. In 2024, the U.S. was the country’s 18th largest trading partner.
All three countries are candidates for EU accession, so it can be expected that their response to U.S. tariffs will be consistent with European Union policy.
- Serbia, Hungary developing military cooperation
The plan for bilateral military cooperation between the ministries of defense of Serbia and Hungary for 2025 was signed in Belgrade in the presence of President Aleksandar Vučić by the Minister of Defense of Serbia, Bratislav Hašić, and his Hungarian counterpart Kristof Szalay-Bobrovniczky. The document specifies the Agreement on Strategic Defense Cooperation between the two countries reached in 2023, providing for the expansion of Serbian-Hungarian cooperation in the military and technical sphere, arms procurement, as well as bilateral and multinational exercises.
“Strategic cooperation between Serbia and Hungary in the field of defense is one of the most important aspects of our comprehensive strategic cooperation. Of all the countries in the region, Serbia has the most developed and intensive defense cooperation with Hungary in terms of the number and importance of joint activities,” Vučić emphasized.
The Hungarian Defense Minister said after talks with the Serbian President that “relations between Serbia and Hungary have been raised to an even higher level when it comes to military cooperation.” This, he said, contributes to the further development of cooperation between the two countries and the strengthening of peace and stability in the Western Balkans.
Vučić expressed belief that the agreements reached on joint activities will lead to further rapprochement and creation of a military alliance or military union between Serbia and Hungary.
Observers consider the signing of the document on defense cooperation between Serbia and Hungary to be a response to the previously concluded declaration on a military union between Croatia, Albania, and Kosovo.
- U.S. postpones sanctions against Serbian Oil Industry, again
At the end of February, the U.S. had already postponed sanctions against the Serbian Oil Industry (Nafhta Industrija Srbija, NIS) for a month, until March 29. However, on March 29, the Serbian government received written confirmation of a new postponement until April 28.
Acting Serbian Energy Minister Dubravka Džedović-Handanović believes that the new postponement will allow NIS to supply products to the market and operate normally.
As is known, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) added NIS to the sanctions list on January 10 due to the company’s Russian ownership. As of December 2024, Gazprom Neft (RF) was the largest NIS shareholder with a 50% stake. 5% belonged to Gazprom (Russia), 29.87% to the Serbian government, and the remaining shares to minority shareholders. In February, the ownership structure of NIS changed as Gazprom Neft transferred about 5% to Gazprom, reducing its stake in NIS from 50 to about 44.85%. Belgrade and Moscow hope the change in ownership structure will help lift the sanctions. But for now, it is only a question of postponing the deadlines for the restrictive measures to be applied. “The only sustainable solution is to remove NIS from the U.S. sanctions list, but the process of such exclusion is long,” said Dubravka Djedovic-Handanovic, acting Serbian Minister of Energy. “The President of Serbia discussed this with Russian President Vladimir Putin. We are inbetween the two major powers that are currently negotiating peace and broader economic and energy interests, so I believe in a sustainable solution,” she stated.
- Serbia, Hungary to lay down new oil pipe
Work on the construction of a new oil pipeline between Serbia and Hungary may kick off late this year or early 2026. Construction is expected to be completed by 2028. This was announced by Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó on April 2 after a meeting with Serbian Energy Minister Dubravka Đedović-Handanović in Belgrade.
“In Hungary, we have already completed the feasibility study, and MOL (Hungarian Oil and Gas Company) has presented that study to the governments of both countries. We have approved it, and the Serbian government has approved the spatial plan necessary for the construction of the oil pipeline,” Péter Szijjártó said in comments after the meeting.
“We hope that work can start by the end of this year or early next year. By 2028, we could have a completed and operational oil pipeline between the two countries,” Szijjártó said.
Acting Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Đedović-Handanović confirmed that part of the technical paperwork for the Serbia-Hungary oil pipeline has been completed, which could allow work to begin by the end of the year.
Szijjártó stressed that the new pipe would fully meet the annual needs of the Pančevo refinery, owned by the Oil Industry of Serbia (Nafhta Industrija Srbija, NIS). “The annual capacity of this pipeline will be four to five million tons, and with this capacity we will be able to supply the Pančevo refinery, which is crucial for Serbia’s energy security,” the Hungarian minister stressed.
According to him, this would mean that Serbia would be capable of fully covering its oil demand from Hungary.
“Today, Hungary can cover Serbia’s total gas needs on an annual basis, and similarly, the new pipeline will mean that Serbia will fully cover its annual capacity requirements with the pipeline we will build together. This allows us to maintain a strategic position that will provide much greater energy security for both countries,” Szijjártó stressed.
The new pipeline will diversify crude oil supplies, reducing dependence on supplies via the JANAF pipeline, which runs from the Croatian port of Omišal on the Adriatic Sea to Serbia. At the same time, the new route could make Serbia dependent on Russian oil supplies via the Druzhba pipeline running via Ukraine.
- Dodik, target of arrest warrant issued by BiH, meets with Putin
The Interpol General Secretariat has rejected a request from the Bosnia and Herzegovina court to issue an international arrest warrant for Milorad Dodik, the President of Republika Srpska, and Nenad Stevandic, the Speaker of the RS National Assembly.
The request was allegedly rejected based on Article 3 of Interpol’s Statute, which prohibits political persecution.
A few days earlier, on March 27, Interpol Belgrade sent a note of protest to the Interpol General Secretariat, stating that the requests for the international warrants violated Article 3 of the Interpol Constitution, which states that “it is strictly forbidden for the Organization to undertake any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious, or racial character”.
As reported, Dodik, Stevandic, and the Prime Minister of Republika Srpska, Radovan Viskovic, are accused of creating a threat to the constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina. They have already been declared wanted at the national level.
The arrest warrant issued in BiH did not prevent the President of the RS from making a series of international visits. Dodik has visited Serbia, Israel, and Russia in recent days.
Thus, on April 1, Milorad Dodik met in Moscow with the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin.
After the meeting, Dodik stated that Russia, which is the guarantor of the Dayton Peace Agreement, will advocate the termination of the work of international institutions in BiH, especially the “fake” or “illegitimate” High Representative.
