{"id":176235,"date":"2025-04-26T09:14:27","date_gmt":"2025-04-26T07:14:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/?p=176235"},"modified":"2025-04-26T09:14:28","modified_gmt":"2025-04-26T07:14:28","slug":"interview-marko-nikolic-new-consul-in-chicago-were-awaiting-biometric-equipment-passports-will-be-issued-much-faster-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/interview-marko-nikolic-new-consul-in-chicago-were-awaiting-biometric-equipment-passports-will-be-issued-much-faster-video\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW: MARKO NIKOLI\u0106, NEW CONSUL IN CHICAGO \u2014 \u201cWe\u2019re Awaiting Biometric Equipment, Passports Will Be Issued Much Faster!\u201d (VIDEO)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Dr. Marko Nikoli\u0107<\/strong> has officially taken up his post as the <strong>new Consul General of the Republic of Serbia in Chicago<\/strong>, and <em>Serbian Times<\/em> is the first media outlet to sit down with him for an exclusive interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Born in <strong>1975 in Belgrade<\/strong>, this is Nikoli\u0107\u2019s <strong>first diplomatic role<\/strong>, though he brings years of experience working with the Serbian diaspora. Prior to this position, he served as a civil servant in the <strong>Office for Cooperation with Churches and Religious Communities<\/strong> at the Ministry of Justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nikoli\u0107 holds <strong>degrees in Political Science and Philosophy<\/strong>, completed <strong>postgraduate studies in Rome<\/strong>, and is the <strong>author of two books<\/strong>. He speaks <strong>English, French, Italian, and Russian<\/strong>, and is a <strong>husband and father of three<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the opening of the interview, we asked him about his <strong>first impressions<\/strong> since assuming the role. As the conversation continued, we touched on a wide range of topics:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Will his focus be on <strong>relations with the U.S. administration<\/strong>, or on <strong>serving the Serbian diaspora<\/strong>?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Can he help <strong>reshape Serbia\u2019s relationship with the diaspora<\/strong>, which many say is often viewed primarily as a financial lifeline \u2014 a \u201ccash machine\u201d for sending money, creating jobs, and offering aid?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>And importantly, <strong>when will Serbian consulates and embassies be equipped with biometric processing devices<\/strong> \u2014 a move that would <strong>greatly speed up passport procedures<\/strong> and make services more accessible for those living far from diplomatic missions?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Nikoli\u0107 revealed that <strong>biometric devices are on the way<\/strong>, and once they arrive, the <strong>passport issuance process will be significantly faster<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Watch the full interview to hear what <strong>Consul Marko Nikoli\u0107<\/strong> had to say on these and other pressing questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"NOVI KONZUL U \u010cIKAGU: \u010cekamo aparate za biometriju, sa kojima \u0107e izdavanje paso\u0161a biti mnogo br\u017ee!\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/M4TlAWf-ZG0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>For more stories like this, click <a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/3rvBacE\" title=\"\">HERE!<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><mark style=\"background-color:#FFFFFF;color:#d21414\" class=\"has-inline-color\">MORE TOPICS:<\/mark><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/column-kovacevic-not-my-patriarch-because-my-patriarch-would-never-slander-his-people-in-moscow\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">COLUMN, KOVA\u010cEVI\u0106: Not My Patriarch! Because my Patriarch would never slander his people in Moscow\u2026<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/student-of-the-belgrade-faculty-of-law-banned-from-entering-serbia-helena-stopped-at-the-border-with-montenegro\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">STUDENT OF THE BELGRADE FACULTY OF LAW BANNED FROM ENTERING SERBIA: Helena stopped at the border with Montenegro!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/milan-je-proslavio-srpski-folklor-u-americi-dosao-u-cikago-zbog-ljubavi-pa-postao-ambasador-kulture\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">MILAN CELEBRATED SERBIAN FOLKLORE IN AMERICA: Came to Chicago for love, became a cultural ambassador<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/vucic-the-blockade-of-rts-is-an-unprecedented-crime-the-state-will-choose-the-moment-when-the-violence-will-end\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">VU\u010cI\u0106: The blockade of RTS is an unprecedented crime, the state will choose the moment when the violence will end!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/humanitarian-feat-of-young-marek-13-baked-and-sold-pastries-to-raise-nearly-100000-dinars-for-his-neighbor-in-need\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">HUMANITARIAN FEAT OF YOUNG MAREK (13): Baked and sold pastries to raise nearly 100,000 dinars for his neighbor in need!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source<\/strong>: Antonije Kova\u010devi\u0107 <strong>Monta\u017ea: <\/strong>Vladimir Talijan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dr. Marko Nikoli\u0107 has officially taken up his post as the new Consul General of the Republic of Serbia in Chicago, and Serbian Times is the first media outlet to sit down with him for an exclusive interview. Born in 1975 in Belgrade, this is Nikoli\u0107\u2019s first diplomatic role, though he brings years of experience [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":176236,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[6246,6247,6248,1778,6249,6250,6251,1524,6252,6253,295],"class_list":["post-176235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interview","tag-aparati-za-biometriju","tag-biometrijski-podaci","tag-brze-procedure","tag-cikago","tag-diplomata","tag-drzavljanstvo-srbije","tag-konzulat-u-cikagu","tag-marko-nikolic","tag-novi-konzul-srbije-u-cikagu","tag-pasos-srbije","tag-srpska-dijaspora","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Serbiantimes.info EN","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176235"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176235\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":176269,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176235\/revisions\/176269"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/176236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}