U.S. rejects Serbian general’s visa application

BELGRADE, Serbia — The U.S.’ rejection of a visa application for the Serbian army chief of staff will have consequences for military relations between the two countries, Serbia’s defence minister warned Thursday. Defence Minister Aleksandar Vulin said that it was unclear why the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade rejected the visa for Gen. Ljubisa Dikovic, who in October was invited to a counterterrorism conference in Washington. Vulin said the refusal to issue Dikovic a visa “does not contribute to our cooperation and leaves a bad trail.”

The U.S. Embassy has refused to comment on the application. Serbian human rights groups have accused Dikovic of war crimes committed by his troops during the 1998-99 war against ethnic Albanian separatists in Kosovo. He has never been tried for the alleged crimes. Serbian media reported that one of the reasons for the rejection could be that Dikovic attended large-scale Russian-Belarus military manoeuvrs in September. NATO officials said the exercises were intended as Moscow’s test of its ability to wage war against the West.

Both Vulin and Dikovic are considered staunchly pro-Russian. Under their military command, Serbia has substantially increased its co-operation with Russia.