The Special Envoy of the United States to the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar said on Wednesday that the agreement to normalize ties with Serbia should be centered around mutual recognition and that the dialogue has nothing to do with Kosovo’s status.
His remarks came during a subcommittee hearing at the US Senate Foreign Relations titled ‘Western Balkans: Supporting peace and progress’ where special emphasis was placed on Russian and Chinese threats in the region.
Escobar, who visited Kosovo and Serbia earlier in the month, said that the US strongly supports the dialogue mediated by the European Union as the place where both sides, as equals, should work to resolve their differences and reach an inclusive deal.
He also said that the United States supports the formation of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities, one of the topics contested by Kosovo.
“We support the formation of the Association for many reasons. One is, it is already agreed to. And even though the Constitutional Court ruled that some parts of the proposal were inconsistent with the Constitution it did not say that the Association itself is unconstitutional. So, in the dialogue, within the context of the dialogue, it is up to Kosovo and Serbia to decide how would that look. So, it doesn’t have to be, and we certainly don’t want it to be similar to Republika Srpska but we have urged and my counterpart, Miroslav Lajcak, has urged the Kosovar government to look at models that they believe would be compatible with them and that would not undermine their sovereignty or their functionality”
Asked by Senator Bob Menendez on what is sought for by Serbia in exchange for the pressure toward Kosovo on the Association, Escobar said that the “purpose of the dialogue is to move everything in Kosovo’s direction”
Escobar added that the United States expects the government of Kosovo to “fully engage in the talks brokered by the EU and see the negotiations as something real in order to reach the main objective which is mutual recognition with Serbia, recognition from 5 EU member states that still don’t recognize Kosovo and membership in an international organization that they want to join. This will require compromise and we have been very clear. Our new ambassador Jeff Hovenier made this very clear in his meetings with the government, and will continue to do that”, he added.
Escobar said that the main pillars of US policy in the Western Balkans are Europe, NATO, and regional integration.
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