Foreign Operations Appropriated Assistance: Serbia

Fact Sheet

Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs

December 1, 2009

Serbia: FY 2009 USD Thousands Total For. Ops. Accounts** $49,187 Assistance for Europe, Eurasia, and Central Asia (AEECA): $46,500 Non-proliferation, Anti-terrorism, Demining and Related Programs (NADR): $1,000 International Military Education and Training (IMET): $887 Foreign Military Financing (FMF): $800
For More Information: SEED Annual Report: http://www.state.gov/p/eur/rls/rpt U.S. Embassy: http://belgrade.usembassy.gov/ Country Profile: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5388.htm

Assistance Goals: The United States Government (USG) has been engaged in assisting Serbia’s transition to a market-oriented democracy since 1997. USG assistance to Serbia creates opportunities for economic growth, strengthens institutional capacity of key government bodies, supports civil society development and promotes transparency through the improvement of adherence to the rule of law. The USG has also worked closely with the European Union, the World Bank and other bilateral donors to ensure banking supervision and reform in business development policies.

Areas of Focus (Foreign Operations Appropriated Assistance):
Peace and Security (PS): FY2008: $4.2M; FY2009 Estimate: $3.7M; FY2010 Request: $7.1M

• Improve Serbia’s investigation and prosecution of war crimes;
• Integrate Serbian law enforcement institutions into Euro-Atlantic institutions;
• Improve investigation techniques to combat money laundering.

Governing Justly and Democratically (GJD): FY2008: $18.2M; FY2009 Estimate: $19.8M; FY2010 Request: $27.2M

• Build NGOs’ capacity to participate in the public policy debate and advocate for reform;
• Build the capacity of the Serbian courts and prosecutors to effectively investigate, prosecute and adjudicate organized crime and war crimes;
• Improve the quality of news reporting in Serbia and strengthen the financial, management and production capacity of independent and minority broadcast.

Investing in People (IIP): FY2008: $0.2M; FY2009 Estimate: $0.2M; FY2010 Request: $0.2M

• Promote the teaching of English in Serbian schools and support programs through which young Serbian citizens study in the U.S.

Economic Growth (EG): FY2008: $30.1M; FY2009 Estimate: $25.5M; FY2010 Request: $20.1M

• Improve the overall investment climate through support for a strong macroeconomic policy and legal framework with a sound financial sector;
• Address complex agricultural policy and infrastructure issues that help the country increase its agricultural production;
• Support enterprise development in order to expand economic opportunities, especially in vulnerable areas in southern Serbia.

Recent Successes:

• USG assistance supported a study visit to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Here the Victim Witness Support Services learned how to set up and operate their office;
• USG democracy assistance worked to improve transparency in the political process, promoted media coverage, and facilitated public policy debates;
• Increased numbers of high-level corruption and financial crime cases by supporting more effective strategies in investigating these cases;
• USG assistance helped the Commercial Courts "go electronic" and improve their performance by utilizing a state-of-the-art Case Management System, an efficient, online, paperless system with random case assignment that resulted in greater transparency and public accessibility to the courts.

*Division J of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 Omnibus Appropriations Act: Department of State Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2008, including: SEED, Child Survival and Health (CSH), NADR, IMET and Foreign Military Financing (FMF).

**Estimate from FY 2009 Congressional Budget Justification; Website: http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/124072.pdf.

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Graph Explanations:

• Pie Chart: For estimated Fiscal Year 2009, fifty-three percent of U.S. assistance to Serbia went to the objective of Economic Growth (EG), thirty-seven percent went to Governing Justly and Democratically (GJD), ten percent went to Peace and Security (PS), and zero percent went to Investing in People (IIP).

• The Bar Graph covers U.S. assistance to Serbia from 1998-2009:
  • In Fiscal Year 1998: 7.33 Million dollars in Support for Eastern European Democracies (SEED) assistance was given to Serbia; and 5.00 Million dollars in other United States Government (USG) assistance was given
  • Fiscal Year 1999: SEED: 7.33 Million dollars; other USG: 15.00 Million dollars
  • Fiscal Year 2000: SEED: 25.00 Million dollars; other USG: 0 dollars
  • Fiscal Year 2001: SEED: 98.97 Million dollars; other USG: 0.81 Million dollars
  • Fiscal Year 2002: SEED: 104.85 Million dollars; other USG: 0 dollars
  • Fiscal Year 2003: SEED: 110.00 Million dollars; other USG: 0.72 Million dollars
  • Fiscal Year 2004: SEED: 98.97 Million dollars; other USG: 5.03 Million dollars
  • Fiscal Year 2005: SEED: 73.45 Million dollars; other USG: 0.60 Million dollars
  • Fiscal Year 2006: SEED: 65.33 Million dollars; other USG: 9.72 Million dollars
  • Fiscal Year 2007: SEED: 61.33 Million dollars; other USG: 4.69 Million dollars
  • Fiscal Year 2008: SEED: 51.6 Million dollars; other USG: 1.1 Million dollars
  • Fiscal Year 2009: AEECA: 46.5 Million dollars; other USG: 2.6 Million dollars