Jovana Jeremic flew to America on Thursday (October 31), with much fanfare accompanied by articles in the tabloids.
Pink's presenter, known for her morning program in which she teaches everyone lessons, claps, sings and cries, announced a spectacular coverage of the elections that will decide whether Kamala Harris or Donald Trump will live in the White House for the next four years.
However, all this cannot be compared with the interest that was met in Serbia and the neighborhood in the first presidential elections in which Trump appeared, eight years ago.
Then in Belgrade, the tabloids congratulated the victory with a billboard with the inscription "Trampe, Serbs", and the head of the Serbian Radical Party, Vojislav Šešelj, organized support rallies wearing a T-shirt with Trump's image.
"The first time Trump beat Hillary Clinton, it was more cheering against Hillary Clinton in Serbia. But now Trump is not entirely new," says Dejan Jović, a professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Zagreb.
"The hopes for big changes that some in Serbia or Republika Srpska may have had were disappointed. Because nothing dramatic happened in the region during Trump's first term. Neither did the United States withdraw the recognition of Kosovo's independence, nor anything like that," Jović told Deutsche Welle (DW).
In the same way, when Joseph Biden took the helm, again it is not known what happened in the other direction. On the contrary, Jović reminds, American Ambassador Christopher Hill had a rather favorable attitude towards Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.
Today, he says, the Western Balkans play absolutely no role in the campaign in the USA. There are much deeper and more urgent crises in Ukraine and the Middle East, while the shadow of a possible conflict with China looms over everything.
All is well as long as it is calm
While the Balkans are calm, the region will not be of particular interest to anyone in the White House, Stevan Nedeljković from the Center for US Studies at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade told Deutsche Welle.
"The strategic interests of the US in our region are the stability and cemented western orientation of the Western Balkan six," Nedeljkovic told DW. "As long as these interests are not threatened, the Americans will leave the helm in the Western Balkans to the Europeans."
The first term of Trump, according to the interlocutors of Deutsche Welle, could develop too great hopes in Belgrade and Banja Luka, but also fears in other capitals of the Western Balkans that the White House will become "pro-Serbian".
True, Trump's man for the region, Richard Grenell - who is well-suited for high-ranking positions if Trump wins again - has established close ties in Belgrade and stood out with tweets.
This may have brought him and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner a profitable business to build a hotel complex in the center of Belgrade, on the site of the General Staff destroyed in the bombing in 1999.
However, Kushner also has similar jobs on the Albanian coast, so the question is how much they imply political support for Trump, if he wins.
Although Kushner may have been looking for a place where he can make the best money, Nedeljković says that Belgrade and Tirana will certainly have certain expectations if father-in-law Trump wins.
"Honestly, such business instruments for realizing political or national interests are not new either in our region or in American politics," he adds.
Everyone has their own recipe for "revision"
Official Belgrade - after failed "bets" in the last two cycles of presidential elections in America - is more restrained this time and cultivates ties with both the democratic and republican establishment.
Although he does not expect major earthquakes in the region, Nedeljkovic says that perhaps the most unrest is in Pristina, in the government of Aljbin Kurti. "And that is due to the strong ties of certain republicans with the authorities in Belgrade, but also with Hashim Thaci."
Dejan Jović says that many in the region hope for a "revision" of US policy towards the Balkans, but that their ideas are completely different. The Bosniaks, he says, want to leave Dayton in favor of a more centralized state. In Serbia, they would be happy for a turnaround in their relationship with Kosovo.
"Some want final entry into the EU, an end to the uncertainty that has reigned for a long time about enlargement," this professor enumerates. But all hopes are on a long stick.
Only Serbs cheer for Trump
A recent public opinion poll conducted by Valicon in four countries of the region shows that only Serbian citizens convincingly support Trump.
While in Slovenia and Croatia the majority hopes for the victory of Harris over Trump (56-18%, respectively 46-29%), in BiH, as expected, it is narrow with 36 percent for Harris and 32 for Trump. In Serbia, however, Trump is much more popular than the Democrat (49-13).
Both Deutsche Welle interlocutors say that Serbs associate the majority Democrats primarily with the Clinton couple and the 1999 bombing.
There is also a third thing, says Dejan Jović, and it is not limited only to the Balkans, but can be observed throughout Europe. "Many think that it would be good to end the war in Ukraine as soon as possible and they see Trump as someone who can speed it up, regardless of exactly how and what it would mean for Ukraine and the EU. They simply expect that Trump can reach an agreement with Vladimir Putin."
Awaiting the outcome of the election, the audience in Serbia could watch Jovana Jeremic waiting for Halloween with a mask in New York and appearing in front of Trump Tower.
She revealed to the esteemed audience that she allegedly slept in the hotel room where Nikola Tesla died and that she, no less, slept in "Tesla's bed".
Bonus video:
