You shall go to the ball: Bosnian shoemaker gets Trump invite

Marinko Umičević, a Bosnian shoemaker who created two pairs of custom-made shoes for Melania Trump, has received an invite to attend one of Donald Trump’s inauguration balls.

When he received a phone call from the agency organising the ball and understood that he could bring a guest, Mr Umičević said he would like to take Milorad Dodik, President of Bosnia’s Serb entity, Republika Srpska.

“My wife didn’t like that. She is angry now and she doesn’t want to iron my shirts anymore,” Mr Umičević, who serves as technical director at the Bema factory in Republika Srpska, said wryly.

Embarrassingly, Mr Dodik’s own application for a US visa was turned down.

Mr Umičević made the shoes in the hope that they would remind Ms Trump, who grew up in Slovenia, of her roots.

“These shoes are from the Balkans, where she grew up,” he said in a statement to the Blic tabloid, adding that he hoped the (then) potential first lady would “imbue US politics with a bit of Balkan mentality, and bring kindness and soul to it”.

Source: Balkan Insight