Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has taken aim at USAID, accusing the U.S. agency of funding efforts to topple his government. Speaking on TV Insider’s Epilogue, he claimed former U.S. President Donald Trump had directly pointed to Serbia as a target for political interference.
“Some were just waiting for the right moment—another crisis, another riot—to push their agenda,” Vučić said. “Trump himself mentioned Serbia as a country where they wanted regime change, and we know who took that money.”
Despite Serbia’s past cooperation with USAID—including a 2023 agreement for $18 million in development funds—Vučić now argues the funding was primarily funneled into NGOs working against his administration. While some money went to public projects like court equipment, he claimed the bulk was handed to organizations like Trag and CRTA.
“In the last four years, 400 million dinars were distributed, and barely 10 million reached the state,” he alleged. “The rest went straight into the hands of the NGO sector.”
Interestingly, months before the latest USAID grant, Trag and CRTA had already launched a competition under USAID’s “Mobilization Fund Program,” supporting initiatives on human rights, anti-corruption, women’s empowerment, and public accountability.
Former Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić also weighed in, shifting her stance. Previously vocal in thanking USAID for its contributions, she now claims the agency’s media funding has systematically harmed Serbia.
“For over a decade, they’ve painted politics as inherently corrupt, discouraging competent people from stepping up,” Brnabić said on Pink TV. She also dismissed the idea of independent media, arguing that outlets bankrolled by USAID were actually serving foreign interests.
“These so-called investigative media weren’t independent at all,” she asserted. “They were reliant on U.S. money—not even from an elected administration, but from the so-called deep state.”
Serbia, she added, is prepared to investigate USAID’s financial activities—if Washington asks.
