Marco Rubio, the potential candidate for Secretary of State who has never forgotten the Balkans (meetings with Thaçi and Osmani)

The US armed forces "stopped Nazism and Communism" and "other evils, such as Serbian ethnic cleansing."

"They helped give birth to democracies - from Germany to Iraq."

These statements were made by Marco Rubio, senator of the Republican Party in the United States, during a speech on America's role in the world in 2011.

Thirteen years later, his name is being discussed for the position of US Secretary of State.

Several US media outlets reported that Rubio is in talks with President-elect Donald Trump's transition team for the top job. The New York Times stated that his name is almost confirmed.

Currently, he serves as vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and is a member of the Foreign Relations Committee.

As Florida's representative in the Senate, the 53-year-old was first elected in 2010.

Throughout his career, the Balkan region was his focus several times.

In 2022, he joined a group of senators who sent a letter to US President Joe Biden to encourage him to keep the Balkans in his sights.

"The Balkans is a vulnerable area of ??Europe and, although Ukraine should have our immediate attention, we cannot lose sight of this region, where NATO has long played an important role in maintaining peace" , said that letter.

It was also emphasized there that Russia, for a long time, has played a destabilizing role in the Balkans, to prevent countries that aspire to NATO from joining this alliance.

"In particular, we call on NATO to increase its engagement in the region and to consider emergency measures, in case Russia vetoes the renewal of the mission of the European Union Forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the Council of the United Nations Security Council, later this year," the letter said.

In 2021, Rubio welcomed the news of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel and Kosovo.

"This is an important step for both countries, as well as for international peace and security," Rubio wrote in X.

Last year, the president of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, during a visit to Washington, was received by a group of American senators and congressmen, among whom was Rubio.

In that meeting, Osmani appreciated the "extraordinary contribution that the Congress has made in strengthening the international position" of Kosovo.

In 2018, the then president of Kosovo, Hashim Thaçi, also met with Rubio.

"We talked about the possibilities for deepening bilateral cooperation, for the transformation of the Kosovo Security Force, for the Euro-Atlantic opportunities of Kosovo and for using the momentum to reach an agreement between Kosovo and Serbia, which ensures Kosovo's membership in NATO, the EU and The UN", Thaçi said at the time.

Rubio is known for his tough approach to foreign policy, especially towards China and Iran.

While he repeatedly expressed support for Ukraine, on an earlier occasion he said that the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine must "come to a conclusion."

Rubio was among several senators who voted against US military aid to Ukraine, which passed in April.

"What we're funding is a gridlock that needs to end," Rubio told NBC News after Trump's election last week.

In an interview for the television network, CNN, that same week, Rubio said that "the world is changing rapidly."

"The adversaries are coming together - North Korea, Iran, China, Russia are increasingly coordinating. We will have to be very pragmatic and smart in how we invest abroad and what we do," Rubio said.

He also repeatedly expressed support for Israel's war in Gaza.

Late last year, when asked by a peace activist what he thought about the killing of Palestinian civilians, Rubio said that Hamas — a terrorist group designated by the U.S. and other powers — "is 100 percent to blame."

"Hamas must stop hiding behind civilians. "Hamas must stop building military installations under hospitals," Rubio said.

Relations between Rubio and Trump were not always harmonious.

The two ran for president in 2016 and developed a fierce rivalry.

They clashed over a number of issues - especially immigration - and the disagreements led to various insults.

Trump often referred to the senator as "little Marco," while Rubio mocked what he called Trump's "tiny hands."

But after Trump won the 2016 presidential election, Rubio began patching things up with him, serving as an informal foreign policy adviser and helping him prepare for his first debate with Biden in 2020. .

He expressed support for Trump both in that year's elections and in the last one, which was held on November 5.

The son of Cuban immigrants, Rubio is married with four children.

"If confirmed by the Senate as America's top diplomat, Rubio would become the face of Trump's foreign policy, criss-crossing the globe in a government jet to articulate the president-elect's 'America First' doctrine," the Washington Post wrote. /REL