MITROVIĆ: TRUMP'S SPIRITUAL ADVISER BURNS VISIT OF MAJOR SIGNIFICANCE FOR SERBS

BELGRADE, JULY 7 /SRNA/ – Dragana Mitrović, a professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade, said that the visit of Pastor Mark Burns, spiritual adviser to US President Donald Trump, to Serbia, Republika Srpska and Serbian holy sites in Kosovo and Metohija could bring significant benefits for the Serbian people.

Mitrović said that Burns is Trump's spiritual adviser, a person he trusts and someone whose opinions and advice he values, which, she noted, is not common in Trump's case. "Burns' presence in Bratunac to pay tribute to civilians killed in Podrinje is a major development. He is the first American official to appear there and it is the first time that someone from the political West has seen our victims and shown that they are recognized and respected," Mitrović said in a statement to SRNA. She pointed out that Burns met with Serbian Patriarch Porfirije in Belgrade and that they also visited the Patriarchate of Peć, the Visoki Dečani Monastery and the Gračanica Monastery together, where Burns attended religious services. "He met with our monks and nuns. He saw not only that great cultural heritage, but also our spiritual and national cradle, and became convinced of the inseparability of Kosovo and Metohija from our Serbian identity," Mitrović said. According to her, it is particularly important that Burns will share what he saw and experienced with President Trump and with many other people, which she believes could have a considerable influence on decision-makers in the United States. "Of course, he will also face resistance from the long-standing lobbyists of Kosovo Albanians, Bosnian Muslims and other anti-Serb circles in the United States and within the administration, who have built their careers on anti-Serb narratives and the false narrative they have promoted through politics and the media from the 1990s to the present day," Mitrović pointed out. Despite this, she described Burns' visit as a very encouraging development for the Serbian people. "It is encouraging because it gives us hope of seeing some justice and a shift by a major power such as the United States toward accepting the truth about us and about what happened during the 1990s, including the events in BiH and in Kosovo and Metohija. I believe this is an exceptionally positive development and one that could produce very significant results," Mitrović stressed.